


What Do You Do?

by Onyxeuphoria



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Slow Burn, happy endings, probably not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 11:03:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onyxeuphoria/pseuds/Onyxeuphoria
Summary: You will choose to believe that love is weakness. But what happens when you meet the girl that automatically slaps you in the face with how wrong you were?





	1. When You Meet Accidentally

A lot of people go through heartbreak. Myself being one of them. But everyone handles it differently. Some people can get their hearts broken and keep going. They can accept it and keep moving on to other relationships with ease. Some can move on but with each failed relationship, more pain and failed hope weighs on their backs.

But you? You will give up on love. You will be so broken hearted that you choose to believe that love is weakness. You began to believe that there's no such thing as "soulmates" or "the one". You won't try anymore. You will busy yourself with any and everything. You will focus on your career and you will continue to repeat to yourself that love is weakness. You will attempt to use that one heartbreak to dictate the rest of your life. You will lean on that heartbreak to remind you why you are alone. You will tell yourself and others that you're alone but not lonely. You will block your heart off and deny access. You will never give anyone else the opportunity to hurt you that way again. You will choose to believe that love is weakness.

But what happens when you meet the girl that automatically slaps you in the face with how wrong you were? When you see this blue-eyed beauty and she automatically makes you realize who you are and who you want to be? When she changes the way you think about things and makes you better than you already are? When she lets you protect her and she's not afraid to protect you either? When she can see past your strength and tells you it's okay to cry? When she tells you tears are strength not weakness? When she yells at you but she doesn't leave? When she is the definition of dedicated? When she's independent and strong? When she doesn't drain you, but instead gives you strength? When she gives you a reason to fight again? When just thinking about her smile can make you shed tears, because you're just that happy with her?

What do you do when you realize that your soulmate..."the one"... is sitting next to you on the couch and she's eating ice cream while wearing your sweatpants and your t-shirt, and her hair is in a cute bun and her head is tilted back in laughter at the movie you all are watching?

I'll tell you what you do. You ask her to marry you. Right then. Right there. Because in this moment she's perfect. She's what you want. So you ask her.

* * *

**5 Years Earlier**

"Lexa pleeeeaaase?! I don't wanna go by myself. I know you're tired, but I'm begging you, and you know I don't beg."

Lexa rubbed her eyes as she sat up from her afternoon nap that was interrupted by Anya shaking her awake.

"Anya do you understand the meaning of "I have the day off"? Let me explain. Usually I go to work. I wake up, usually at about 8am, and I head to the gym and I train and coach and sweat. And I head home at about 7pm. Most of the time it's later than that. And then the next day I get up and do the same thing."

"Lex, I- "

Lexa held her hand up and continued speaking.

"Now a day off, is when I don't have to do any of that. On a day off I wake up whenever I want to and I do whatever I want to. Which usually includes me sleeping. Like I was doing before you came in here. So now that that's settled. Please get out."

Anya rolled her eyes as her best friend laid back down and pulled the covers over her head.

"Lexa. Get up! It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon. You've slept enough! Please, if you do this for me, I'll owe you. I promise."

Lexa let out a sigh and uncovered her head. "Okay An. There must be a reason you keep bothering me about it. So what's up?"

Anya flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I met a girl. She's really cute and intriguing and super sassy and basically a genius and she invited me out, so I really want to go, Lex. Come on just go with me. There'll be free champagne."

Lexa playfully rolled her eyes at her best friend and shook her head. "I should have known it was for a girl. Okay fine. Where are we going?"

Anya sat up and grinned widely at the girl. "We're going to an art gallery."

* * *

"Clarke, get up! I mean honestly you would think that you'd actually be up and ready ahead of time on the day that your work is being shown, but apparently not."

Clarke rolled over in her bed and buried her head under her pillow.

"Reyes, get out. I have more than enough time to get ready. I've been painting non-stop for the past 7 months. I could use the mental and emotional rest."

Raven rolled her eyes and pulled the pillow off of the blonde's head.

"First of all, stop being a dramatic art hoe. Secondly, it's 4:45pm and you have to be there in an hour. So we're kinda pressed for time. And last and most importantly, I invited a girl to come so it's important that we get there before she does. Now get up!"

Clarke sat up in bed and quirked her eyebrow at her brunette friend. "You met a girl? And you...Raven "I'm late for everything" Reyes, want to be punctual to an event? This girl must be a true miracle worker." she said with a sly smirk.

Raven tossed the pillow on the bed with a sigh. "Clarke...this girl...she's even more sassy than I am. She has this mysterious type of thing going for her, and can I just say that her cheekbones almost killed me."

Clarke was a bit surprised by dazed smile on her best friend's face. She finally stood up from the bed and took Raven's hand, leading them to her closet. "Okay, let's get dressed. I'm interested now. I have to meet the girl that makes you smile like that."


	2. When She Realizes She's Broken

Clarke stood in the back of the art gallery observing everyone observe her art. She studied their faces and their body language. She's never been one to care what people think of her in any aspect, but at this moment she was curious to see what people thought of her work. Because, after all, her work, especially this work, was a reflection of her.

"Oh my gosh, there she is."

Clarke was pulled out of her thoughts by Raven's voice. She looked at the brunette and followed her line of sight.

In the entrance way of the galley, stood two women. One woman wore black plants, with a white sweater, a black blazer, and black boots. Her hair hung loosely and came down past her shoulders. Looking at the woman's face, Clarke instantly noticed her cheekbones. Raven was right about her cheekbones. They were absolutely flawless.

The other woman though. The other woman captivated Clarke instantly. The woman was dressed in black pants, a black button down dress shirt, red suspenders, and black loafers. The woman had her sleeves rolled her to her elbows, revealing some of her tattoos on her arm. Her hair was long and braided to the back. She wore a stoic expression, as she stood with her hands behind her back. Clarke could have painted her for days.

"Oh my...Well she most certainly is beautiful Reyes. But the friend..." Clarke said in a whisper.

Raven hummed in agreement. "Yeah the friend's pretty hot too. Come on, let's go talk to them."

* * *

Anya tugged Lexa's elbow. "Lex, there she is! Jesus, a red strapless dress? And look how tight it is! This girl is trying to murder me."

Lexa hummed in acknowledgment, but her attention was taken by the painting in front of her.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Are you even listening to me? She's coming over here Lex, look."

Lexa held her hand up to silence Anya and pointed at the painting in front of her.

"Anya...look at this."

Anya rolled her eyes once more, turning her attention to the two women walking her way.

Anya smirked at the sight of Raven checking her out upon approach.

"See something you like small stuff?" Anya asked with a smirk.

Raven rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Ha, you wish. Although thanks for getting all dolled up for me, I know you wanted to impress me."

Anya glared playfully and looked to the blonde standing next to the brunette. "Hi there, I'm Anya." She said, extending her hand.

Clarke smiled and shook the woman's hand. "Clarke. And please excuse Raven, she has no manners whatsoever sometimes." She said shooting Raven a playful glare.

Raven shrugged and motioned towards the brunette still staring at the painting. "And who's this talk glass of hot sauce?"

"This is my bestfriend, Lexa. I would properly introduce you guys, if she wasn't completely hypnotized by this painting. She can be quite the dramatic hoe sometimes, if you know what I mean." Anya said shaking her head at her bestfriend.

Clarke watched as a small grin spread across Raven's face.

"I know exactly what you mean. So Anya, what do you think of the painting?" Raven asked with the hint of a smirk.

Anya stood next to Lexa and observed the painting for a while before answering. "I think it's pretty cool. I feel like the painter was probably in a happy place or a good mood when they painted it. That's kind of the vibe I'm getting, but I don't know." Anya said with a shrug.

Before Raven or Clarke could respond Lexa spoke up.

"You're so wrong An." Lexa said, still looking at the painting.

"This artist was nowhere near a happy place when they painted this. This is literally the saddest piece of art I've ever seen. They're broken. And torn. Trust me, I know broken and torn when I see it. But this place...This place was a place filled with good memories. They're trying to recreate it by painting it again. Recreate the happiness and liveliness that happened here. But...you can tell that they're too broken. Do you see the way the colors are layered in the sunset? And the way it reflects off of the lake? The intricate details that they put in the drawing of the cabin. This place is special to them. It once brought them happiness but now...it's not the same. But they also have hope. Hope that one day, they'll go back to this place and feel that feeling of happiness again...For the longest I've believed that love is weakness...but this artist...they wouldn't dare believe that. They believe that love is strength. I think they will feel it. The happiness. They'll feel it again."

Lexa took a deep breath before she turned around to see the three girls staring at her. She made eye contact with Raven and Clarke. Before she spoke, however, she was instantly thrown into a pool of blue eyes. Blue eyes that instantly knew could make her do anything. The woman standing in front of her was gorgeous. She wore a black dress that came right above the knee, with black stilettos that made her legs look like heaven. Her hair was basically golden like the sun, which made it tempting to get lost in her eyes all over again. Lexa cleared her throat before speaking, "I would like to buy this. Do you know where I can find the artist?"

Clarke stood silent and still for a while, before Raven pushed her forward. "Clarke Griffin at your service. The reason we're all here tonight. The artist. Right here. That's her."

Lexa took a step closer to the blonde. "You painted this?" Clarke nodded. "I'm sorry if I overstepped by voicing my thoughts and feelings about the painting."

Clarke smiled a small and sad smile. "It's more than okay. That's what art is for. Everyone has different opinions on it. It makes people feel different things." Clarke was quiet for a second before she took a deep breath. "You were right though. Everything you said was accurate."

Clarke walked forward to look at her painting closer. The other girls watched her closely.

"This is my family's lake house. We would go there on family vacations, and hangout there during holidays. So many Christmases and Thanksgivings and birthday parties were spent here." She traced the outline of the cabin with her finger. "My dad and I would spend time at the cabin when my mom was out of town. He died last year and I've only been back there once. To paint this. It was 6 o'clock in the evening when I started painting this. I know because that's what we did. When we stayed at the cabin, my dad and I would go outside at exactly 6pm and watch the sunset. Sometimes we would talk and sometimes we wouldn't. Words were never a necessity between us. This place...This moment right here was our escape."

Clarke turned to Lexa and smiled. "You're right. I am very broken. But..." Clarke scanned Lexa's eyes for a moment. "But I think I'm on my way to being less broken." Clarke removed the painting from the wall and handed it to Lexa. "Don't pay for it. I don't want you to. Keep it. Protect it. And when you look at it, I want you to remember that love is strength. Even if you don't believe it. Look at it until you do."

Clarke leaned forward and kissed Lexa's cheek. "Thank you." She said walking away before anyone could say anything.

Anya looked over to Raven who was standing with a shocked expression on her face.

"Is everything okay?" Anya asked.

"I- I don't know...She...she hasn't talked about her dad since the funeral last year. Like she hasn't mentioned him. Ever. We all just figured that she would eventually mention him but it never happened. Clarke is strong. Sometimes too strong. She hasn't even cried about it. She's always acted as if it never happened. Honestly? We've all been waiting for her to break." She looked at Lexa with a perplexed and curious look. "I don't even think she knew she was broken. How did you know?"

Lexa looked at the painting in her hands and then back up at Raven. "Let's just say I've been there. I know what broken looks like in every aspect of the word."

Raven looked over to see Clarke talking to one of the guests about one of her paintings. "Well I hope you know a little something about fixing broken pieces, because the dam is about to break."

* * *

"Clarke..." Raven said as she approached Clarke who was sitting in the back room of the gallery, with a glass of champagne in her hand..

"I'm fine Rae." Clarke stated. They both knew it was a lie though.

"You're not." Raven said as she took a seat across from Clarke.

"Where are Lexa and Anya?" She asked, trying to avoid the topic.

Raven sighed. "They headed home a while ago. I'm meeting up with Anya tomorrow and Lexa told me to tell you thank you for the painting."

Clarke hummed. "I like Anya. She's spunky. I think she could be good for you."

They were silent for a while and Clarke finally spoke.

"Did you know Rae?" She asked softly.

Raven looked up at her and tilted her head. "Know what?"

"That I was broken? Did you know that I haven't talked about or even mentioned my dad since he died? Did you notice that I haven't cried about it? Did you know I was broken?"

Raven took Clarke's hand and squeezed it gently. "Of course I knew Clarke. It's the main reason I'm always worried about you. But I didn't want to push you. I didn't want to pressure you to talk about it if you weren't ready. Seeing you broken, broke me. There were so many times that I cried for you Clarke, simply because I didn't know how to help. Of close I noticed you were broken, which is why I stayed by your side. Ready to put you back together when you were ready. I have to admit though, it completely shocked me that the first time you decide to talk about it, is to a complete stranger."

Clarke huffed and stood up to pace. "I know Raven I know. You and O should have been the first people I talked to about it but instead it was some random person. Who even is she? I'm not mad that I told her. Just mad that I don't know _why_ I told her. In that moment I felt like I could tell her anything. Like she would get it. How did she know Rae? How did she know I was broken before she even officially met me?" Clarke stopped to look at Raven for an answer.

Raven shrugged and smiled a small smile. "I don't know Griff. But maybe she's the key to putting you back together. Either way, you know me and O are here for you."

* * *

Anya leaned against the doorway of Lexa's room. She watched as her brunette friend stared at the painting now hanging on her wall.

"Lex..."

"Don't Anya. Please. Don't."

Anya sighed and walked away leaving her friend to her thoughts.

_And when you look at it, I want you to remember that love is strength. Even if you don't believe it. Look at it until you do._


	3. When She Makes You Confront Feelings

Anya walked in the room and sighed when she saw the look of tiredness in Lexa's eyes.

"Did you even sleep last night?" she asked.

No response.

"Lex you didn't show up for work today. Not that you have to or anything, but it's not like you to skip work." Anya said.

Lexa looked at her friend standing at the door.

"I was going to go. I showered and I got dressed. But…" Lexa trailed off and shrugged.

"But you didn't feel like fighting today." Anya finished for her.

"I love fighting Anya. You know that. I love putting on those gloves and punching something. I love flipping people on the mat and waiting until they tap out. I love walking into the building we own and smelling the sweet smell of sweat and hard work and determination. But sometimes…sometimes I just don't want to you know?"

Anya nodded. "I feel you. Saturdays are always the busiest. I may take the day off tomorrow. So what did you do today, since you didn't go to work? Don't tell me you spent all day here."

Lexa chuckled. "Just because I didn't go to work, doesn't mean I didn't go to work. Gustus called and said that they needed my signature for the paper work of the new equipment. So I took the jet to Miami and handled some stuff down there at the new location. I just got back about an hour ago."

Anya's jaw dropped. "Dude, you know I've been wanting to go to Miami to see the new studio, and as your co-owner I think you should have told me! I would have skipped work for that!"

Lexa grinned and patted her pouting friend on the head. "Don't worry, we're going on Wednesday to talk to and train with the new staff down there. They're not expecting it so it'll be fun. Plus we have to go down there in a few weeks for the grand opening, so chill."

Anya followed Lexa to the kitchen. "Wait, Wednesday? I have a date with Raven on Wednesday Lex!"

Lexa shrugged. "Okay so bring her with you. I'm sure she wouldn't mind taking a jet to Miami as a date."

Anya tilted her head in thought for a moment. "True, Raven seems like the type that's up for anything. By the way, she's coming over today."

Lexa looked up at Anya with a glint in her eye. "You invited her here? After only meeting her yesterday? She must be the one."

Anya rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you ass…oh and by the way, Clarke's coming." Anya said with a smirk.

Lexa looked up at Anya with wide eyes.

"What the hell dude?! Why would you invite her over here? Where the hell am I supposed to put all of this stuff?" Lexa said, gesturing to all the paintings of Clarke's she had bought at the gallery from the night before.

Anya smirked and shrugged. "It's not my fault you basically bought all of her paintings, especially after she specifically told you NOT to pay for them. But I suggest you figure it out before they get here. Oh and change your clothes."

Lexa looked down at what she was wearing. She still had on her gray 3 piece suit and she looked decent enough for company.

"First of all, she told me not to pay for that _one_. And secondly, why do I need to change? I look fine." Lexa said.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Dude, I'm trying to make this a casual hangout okay? I don't need you sitting there in your name brand clothes and accessories as we lounge around the house. I don't want her to think I'm trying too hard. She can't know how much I actually like her. Now go change."

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "And why exactly can she not know that you like her?"

Anya rolled her eyes. "It's part of the game. We pretend not to be that into each other. If she finds out that I really like her then I lose."

Lexa hummed and walked to her room. "Fine, I'll shower and change, but hide those paintings before they get here."

* * *

"Where are we going Raven?" Clarke asked looking at her friend from the passenger's seat.

Raven grinned and looked over at Clarke. "Well now that I have you in the car and you can't escape, I guess I can tell you. We're going to Anya and Lexa's place."

Clarke's mouth fell open and she punched her friend in the arm.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get. Why on Earth am I coming with you? Things are going to be super awkward after last night! Plus we don't even really know these people."

Raven rubbed her arm and looked at Clarke. "You know you're getting more and more violent as the days go on. And I know we don't know them, which is why I didn't want to go by myself. And it won't be awkward I promise. Plus if I went by myself, Anya would think I was actually interested. I've got to keep her on her toes. If I came on my own she might think I actually liked her."

Clarke narrowed her eyes. "But you do like her."

Raven shook her head. "Yeah, but she can't know that. That's the game. If I give in then she wins."

Clarke shook her head and sat back. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." She murmured.

* * *

Anya leapt up as she heard a knock at the door.

"Oh crap they're here. Lex are you dressed?!" She yelled.

Lexa came out of her room dressed in light gray sweatpants, a white long-sleeved shirt, and white socks. "Yeah Yeah, I'm dres-"

She stopped when she walked out of her room. Instead of hiding the paintings, Anya had hung them on the wall in the hallway. "WHAT THE HELL ANYA?!"

Anya smirked as she headed towards the door to open it. "I don't see the problem Lex. It's not like we're going to give them a tour of the place."

She opened the door to see Raven and Clarke standing there with wide eyes.

"Hey guys, come on in." Anya said as she stepped aside to let the girls in.

"Holy balls! You live here?!" Raven exclaimed.

Anya rolled her eyes and grinned. "That's the only reason I would give you this address."

Lexa stood up from the couch offering Clarke and Raven a seat. "Nice to see you two again." She said, as she took a seat in her leather chair. Or throne as she liked to call it.

Clarke smiled and took a seat. "Thank you. Nice to see you two again as well."

Raven and Clarke looked around the penthouse apartment. To say it was huge was an understatement.

"Our entire apartment could fit in here!...Twice!" Raven said as she walked around looking at the apartment.

"Would you ladies like a tour?" Anya asked as she smirked at Lexa.

"Hell yes!" Raven said as she took off down the nearest hall.

"Her manners are the worst." Clarke said as she stood up to follow Anya. "Are you coming Lexa?" she asked.

Lexa opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Raven's voice.

"CLARKE GRIFFIN! COME HERE NOW!" Raven basically yelled.

Anya stepped out of the blonde's way so she could go see what Raven was so hyped about. Once the blonde had turned down the hall, Anya walked up to Lexa with a smile.

"Well Lexa…seems like you've been found out. I wonder how Clarke will respond when she finds out that most of her artwork is here." Anya said with a smirk.

Lexa stood up and flipped Anya on the couch.

"I wonder how Raven will respond when she finds out I killed you and buried your body in one of the new punching bags in Miami." Lexa said with a glare.

Anya tightened her grip on Lexa's wrist and flipped her onto the floor, pressing her knee into Lexa's stomach. "Admit it, you like her!" Anya said with a smirk as she watched Lexa try to get free.

Lexa pressed pressure on Anya's wrist and twisted it, causing her friend to raise her knee. Lexa took the advantage and pinned Anya down the exact same way. "I don't even know her you psycho! We've only talked once, and unlike you, I don't get a crush on everyone I meet."

Anya rolled over and pinned Lexa down on her stomach, locking her arm behind her back. "First of all, I actually like Raven, like really like her, so shut the fuck up. And secondly, you are such a child! You like Clarke and you know it! Admit it!"

Lexa rolled over on her back and held Anya's arms back as she rolled over again putting Anya on her back. "I don't like her!"

"Yes you do!"

"No..I…Don't"

Lexa struggled as Anya put her on her stomach once more and pinned both of her arms back bending her wrists gaining a groan from the girl.

"Dude you do! I know it's been a while but admit it! You like her! Say it!"

Lexa struggled some more before she finally stopped. And let out a breath. "Okay fine. I kind of…maybe…might like her. Now get off of me."

Anya smirked as she dug her knee into her bestfriend's back. "I'll get off once you tap out."

Lexa smirked. "You know I never tap An. You know you're just going to lose so how about you tap, before I make you tap."

Anya rolled her eyes before turning Lexa on her back and throwing a punch that Lexa ended up blocking. Before they could continue their fight, they were stopped by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They both froze and look at the blonde and brunette that were looking at them with amused faces. They got up quickly and smoothed out their clothes.

"So…" Anya started. "How much of that did you see?"

"And hear?" Lexa added.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Well we came in on, 'I actually like Raven, like really like her.'" Raven smirked.

Lexa smirked. "Well look who's exposed now." Gaining an elbow to the stomach from Anya.

"Do you two always settle disputes through fighting?" Raven asked with amusement.

Anya and Lexa looked at each other and shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Basically."

Clarke cleared her throat. "So…my paintings…You guys bought them?"

Anya smirked and pushed Lexa forward. "No no no, not me. Her. Right there. Lexa Woods."

There was a moment of silence before Lexa turned towards Anya with a stoic expression. "Order the pizza and pick a movie. We'll be back." Lexa turned and stepped towards Clarke and put out her hand. "Come with me."

Without hesitation, surprising herself, Clarke took Lexa's hand and followed her. They walked down the hallway where the walls were covered in her paintings. Finally Lexa stopped in front of one. Clarke noticed it instantly. It was a painting of the sky half at night and half in the day, with trees, and a park bench separating the difference. Seeing it instantly made her smile.

"Tell me about this." Lexa said.

Clarke looked at Lexa and back at the painting.

"This is where me, Raven, and our other bestfriend Octavia would hangout sometimes when we were in high school. We would come here after long days of exams or when the one of us wasn't in a good mood. We would sit on this bench or lay in the grass and talk. We'd spend hours here. Sometimes the day would become night and the night would become day, we stayed there so long. We laughed and cried here." Clarke pointed at the back of the bench. "We carved our initials on the back of the bench right there. When we go back home we always come here. We sit on the bench as if nothing has changed and we chill and talk."

Lexa smiled. "It's the consent in your life. The thing that hasn't changed huh?"

Clarke tilted her head slightly. "Yeah…yeah I guess it is."

They stood there for a while looking at it. Neither realizing that they were still holding hands.

"Why did you buy these?" Clarke finally asked, as she looked around at the other paintings on the wall.

Lexa sighed and finally let go of Clarke's hand, missing the contact immediately.

"Why do we do anything? Because it affects us in some way. I've obviously bought painting before. For reasons such as they were beautiful or they were well known, but these…these paintings Clarke…they make me feel stuff. Stuff that I'm not okay with. I bought all of these for a reason. With each painting I feel a different emotion. They each represent something different to me. And to leave them behind? Well I just couldn't do that." Lexa said as she turned her attention away from the painting and looked at Clarke.

"What exactly does this one make you feel?" Clarke asked.

Lexa looked at her and smiled. "Happiness. Content. That's why I wanted you to tell me about it. I was sure it would be a good memory."

Clarke smiled and nodded. "And the one from last night? What did that make you feel?" Clarke asked hesitantly.

Lexa took Clarke's hand and lead her into the room at the end of the hallway. Upon opening the room, Clarke noticed a lot of things. Firstly, this was Lexa's room. Secondly, this room has a balcony with the best view. Thirdly, the room was completely spotless and looked rather expensive. There was a theme of white, black, and gray and it made the room look like something straight out of a magazine. Lastly, Clarke noticed the painting that hung on the wall right in front of the bed.

They sat on the edge of the bed, and Clarke almost moaned at how soft the bed felt.

"This painting Clarke…this painting makes me completely furious. Because it gives me something that I haven't had in a very long time. Hope. Hope about love. And I don't do love anymore, Clarke. Love is weakness Clarke, I know this to be true, yet every time I look at this painting…I know a little less. Maybe it's because this painting screams that love is strength. That even though something can hurt, it can also be a refuge. But if it hurts Clarke, how can it be strength? If you know something has the power to tear you apart, why would you want it to be a part of your life?"

Clarke looks at Lexa as the brunette stares at the painting. "Because you hope. Because even though you know it can break you, you still go for it. Hoping that this time, it won't break you." There was a moment of silence before the blonde continued. "Do you know how deep I'm broken Lexa?"

Lexa looks at the blonde and shakes her head.

"Yeah, I didn't know either until you brought it to my attention last night. Not only am I broken over my dad's death, but I'm also broken over other things. I haven't talked to my mom in about 5 months. My ex-girlfriend cheated on me and left me because she 'couldn't handle it', which what does that even mean? But anyway, yeah I'm broken pretty deeply, but that doesn't mean I give up on love completely. You get knocked down in different ways, but you have to decide if you're going to let the stuff keep you down. When I painted this, I was down…I was so down, and I was trying so hard to pick myself back up at this moment, but I was too broken. I am too broken. But just like a broken bone, I will heal. Especially now that I know I'm actually broken."

Lexa looked at Clarke and tilted her head. "Did you actually not know? You didn't realize you were in pain?"

Clarke smiled a small smile and chuckled. "Not at all. I kept myself busy. I worked on my art and went out a lot. I guess I distracted myself from everything so I never got a chance to deal with it. First my dad died, then Niylah cheated on me, and by then I was already working on all of my art, which served as a distraction from dealing with how I felt. Everything was a distraction to everything else."

Lexa was silent for a moment. "I get it. I know I'm broken but I store it away. It's not necessarily affecting my life negatively so I just kind of never dealt with it. But, and forgive me if I'm out of line, I think you should deal with yours."

"Well I'll deal with mine, if you promise to deal with yours." Clarke stated.

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "No no Clarke, I don't do feelings."

Clarke smirked. "Really? Because this is the second time we've talked and once again, it's about feelings."

Lexa smiled and put her hands in her head. "Yeah well, I guess you're an exception."

They both looked up when they heard a knock at the door.

"Food's here lovebirds." Raven said as she smirked at the two.

* * *

"So what exactly do the two of you do to have this amazing crib?" Raven asked.

Lexa looked at Anya. "You haven't told her?"

Anya shrugged. "It never came up."

Lexa shook her head and laughed. "We own 'Trikru.'"

Both Raven and Clarke choked on their food throwing them into a coughing fit. Once they caught their breath they looked at the two women sitting in front of them.

"No way!" Raven shouted.

"You mean Trikru, as in the fastest growing gym studio nationwide? As in the one that has like 30 different locations?!" Clarke asked in shock.

"31 actually, but yeah." Lexa said with a shrug.

Clarke and Raven looked at each other in shock. "Well that explains the fighting from earlier." Raven muttered.

"Speaking of, Raven I know we were supposed to go out on Wednesday, but we have to go down to Miami to handle some stuff at the new location. You can come if you want, you know, so we don't have to cancel. We'll be back here by the end of the day." Anya said.

Raven's eyes widened. "Yes bitch I wanna go!"

Clarke shook her head and laughed. "Raven literally never turns down an adventure." She said shaking her head.

"You should come too Clarke." Anya said with a smile.

Clarke shook her head. "No, I couldn't impose on you guys like that. I'm sure you have a lot of business to take care of."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Clarke, on the other hand, always turns down an adventure."

Clarke frowned and elbowed her brunette friend. "Not true."

"Then come with us Clarke. You wouldn't be imposing at all. I would love for you to join us." Lexa said, making eye contact with Clarke.

Clarke gulped. "Uh okay, sounds good."

Anya stood up and clapped her hands together. "Now let's head to the theater and watch this movie."

Raven choked on her pizza once again. "YOU GUYS HAVE A THEATER?!" Anya nodded. "THAT'S IT, I'M MOVING IN!" Raven turned to Clarke as they walked through the kitchen. "You and O will have to find another roommate hoe, I live here now."

Lexa and Anya laughed as Clarke shook her head at her best friend. "You only want to live here so you can be around Anya more." Clarke said with a smirk.

Everyone took a seat in one of the theater chairs, as Raven sat on Anya's lap. "I can neither confirm nor deny that." She said, drawing a laugh from everyone.


	4. When Your Worlds Collide

**Tuesday Night**

"Seriously Clarke, it's literally been one of the best trips ever! To be honest, when Lincoln suggested that we go on a road trip together, I was a little skeptical, I mean simply because we've only been dating for about a month, but it's been so fun!" Octavia said with a wide smile.

Clarke was lying on her bed as her best friend went on and on about the vacation she was currently on. She couldn't blame Octavia though, Lincoln was pretty great.

"I'm honestly so happy for you O! So wait, are you guys still in Michigan?"

Octavia shook her head. "No, we're about 2 hours away from home. We decided to just get a hotel room and then drive back in the morning."

"Ah gotcha. So wait, where is Lincoln?"

"He just got in the shower, so he'll be a while. I swear he takes longer in the bathroom than I do. By the way, where is the other member of the team?" Octavia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Clarke rolled her eyes and smirked. "She's on the phone with Anya. _Again._ "

Octavia was about to respond before she heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar face on the screen.

"I am not! And why didn't you tell me O was on skype?" she asked the blonde as she plopped on the bed.

"Uh I did! And you shooed me away so you could have you special Anya time." Clarke said.

"So be real with us Reyes, how much do you like this girl?" Octavia asked crossing her arms.

Raven looked between her two best friends and shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, I like her…she's cool I guess."

Octavia and Clarke both gave her a knowing look. "Just cool? Really? Because counting the number of times you've seen her in the past five days, I'd say that you think she's more than "cool"." Clarke said.

Raven sighed. "I mean…she's alright. She's smart and funny and stuff and I get butterflies in my stomach when I talk about her or think about her and she has a cute laugh…" Raven cleared her throat. "Not that I care about that sort of thing or whatever…" Raven said as she fiddled with a pillow.

"Raaaven likes Anyaaa! Raaaven likes Anyaaa! Raaaven likes Anyaaa!" Octavia sung in a childish voice.

Raven glared at her brunette friend and turned to Clarke. "Could you tell her to stop?!"

Clarke made eye contact with Octavia and grinned. "I could but…Raaaven likes Anyaaa! Raaaven likes Anyaaa! Raven likes Anyaaa!"

Raven groaned and put her head in her hands as Clarke joined in with Octavia. "You guys are the worst!"

"Eh, you love us." Clarke said, matter-of-factly.

There was a moment of comfortable silence.

"So Clarke…" Octavia started, her voice taking a serious tone. "How are you doing? Any more thoughts about your dad?"

Clarke shrugged. "I've been okay. It's been a little harder to sleep than usual, but I'm okay."

"Have you been having nightmares?" Raven asked worriedly as she looked at the blonde.

"Kind of? Sometimes I see flashes of my dad in my sleep or of Wells…which…hasn't happened in a long time. I think everything is on the verge of surfacing, but the only difference is that this time I'm not trying to prevent it. I'm probably extremely close to a meltdown of emotions, but I think its way overdue."

Raven cuddled into Clarke and laced her fingers with the blonde's. "Don't worry Clarkey, we'll be here to put you back together if you fall apart." Raven said almost in a whisper.

"Yeah Clarke, You have me and Rae. If you need cuddling we'll pile into your bed and cuddle you until the nightmares stop and the tears stop falling."

Clarke wiped tears from her eyes that had fallen without her permission and chuckled. "I don't think I want Raven in my bed anymore. Last time I had to go to the hospital because she pushed me out of the bed with her wild sleeping." Clarke said causing Octavia to laugh.

Raven sat up and slapped the blonde's leg playfully. "The only reason you went to the hospital was because you had a doctor's appointment, you dramatic hoe!"

Clarke shrugged. "Details details."

"I can't wait to see you two goofballs again." Octavia said with a smile.

"When will you be back?" Raven asked.

"Well, we're driving in tomorrow morning, butttt Lincoln wants to introduce me to some of his friends from work I think? So I'm not sure what time I'll actually be home." Octavia stated.

"Speaking of tomorrow morning, we have to be up early as well. 6am to be exact." Clarke said as Raven groaned.

"Where in the world do the two of you snails have to be, that would cause you to have to get up at 6am?" Octavia asked suspiciously.

Raven grinned. "Let's just say you're going to be jealous when we send you the pics. Night O!" Raven said as she closed the laptop.

"She's gonna be super mad that you did that." Clarke said with a laugh.

Raven shrugged. "Octavia is always mad about something." She said with a laugh. "Now let's go pack, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

When the alarm beeped at 6am Wednesday morning, Clarke could have cursed everything and everyone. She regretted everything. Every moment that got her to this very point. Okay, maybe that was a little over dramatic, but she hated waking up early.

"Only ninjas are up before the sun rises." She muttered as she got up and headed to her bathroom to shower and get ready. Anya and Lexa had told them to dress casually so when Clarke got out of the shower, she put on her comfortable light blue jean shorts, a white v-neck shirt, and a blue flannel that she tied around her waist, along with her white chuck taylors.

"You look super gay. I hope you have your bulletproof vest on under that." Raven said in a tired voice, as she entered the room and threw her bag on the bed with Clarke's. Anya had told them to pack a swimsuit and an extra set of clothes in case they ended up going to the beach, or going out to dinner, which they most likely would.

Clarke turned around to see the brunette basically wearing the exact same outfit, except Raven's shorts were a darker shade of blue and her flannel was red. Oh and she had on vans instead of chucks.

"You literally look just as gay. Go change!" Clarke said as she finished the last of her make up.

"Uh no, Princess. I was dressed first. Plus I-"

Raven was cut off by a knock at the door. "Ah, they're here."

As her brunette friend left the room to get the door, Clarke took one last look in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction. She grabbed the two bags on the bed and headed to the living room. In the middle of the living room, stood a bald man with a black suit on and his hands behind his back.

"Um…Hello, who are you?" Clarke asked cautiously.

Before the man could answer, Raven came out of the kitchen with a banana, handing half of it to Clarke. "This is Titus, Clarke. He's here to pick up our bags and take them down to the limo. _Limo_ , Clarke. He's also the driver. Titus, this is Clarke."

Titus extended his hand and smiled. "Hello there, Clarke. Nice to meet you."

Clarke sat down the bags and shook the man's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Titus. So are Anya and Lexa not here yet or…?"

"Oh, they are on their way up as we speak." Titus said as he picked up the bags. "I will take these down to the vehicle for you. Is there anything else?"

Clarke and Raven looked around, making sure they had everything. "No, that's all Ty, thank you." Raven said.

Titus flashed a smile and headed out of the door, just as Lexa and Anya entered.

"Well damn, I feel super underdressed" Raven said as Anya and Lexa stepped further into the apartment.

Clarke looked at the two women and immediately agreed with Raven. Her and Raven were definitely underdressed.

Anya was wearing tight chocolate brown slacks with a cream colored button down shirt that was tucked tightly into her pants, along with some chocolate brown oxford loafers. Her outfit was accented with a gold Michael Kors watch on her left wrist and gold bracelet on the other.

Lexa, on the other hand, had on similar tight pants except they were black. She wore a white button down shirt and had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, once again revealing a little of her tattoos. On top of her shirt, she wore a black vest that was buttoned and fit her body perfectly. Her black Oxford shoes had an intricate design on them, and to complete the look she wore a silver Armani watch, a ring on both middle fingers, and a ring on her right thumb.

Anya rubbed the back of her neck and Lexa shuffled awkwardly. "Yeah sorry, we had a 4am meeting this morning and it ended a little later than we thought it would, so we just headed over here. But don't worry; we're going to change on the plane."

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "You had a meeting at 4am?"

Lexa chuckled. "Yeah well, it was 12pm in Italy so..."

Raven shook her head. "I don't have time for you rich hoes right now. It's too early." She said, as she walked out of the apartment and headed downstairs to the limo waiting for them.

Anya and Lexa chuckled and waited for Clarke to lock the door, before following Raven to the limo.

When all four women were in the vehicle, Titus pulled off towards their destination.

"Look, I don't have enough energy to lose my shit over the fact that you guys picked us up in a decked out limo, but rest assured I will lose my shit later." Raven said with a yawn.

"Not morning people huh?" Anya asked as she saw Clarke yawn also.

"The only people that are up at this time are ninjas." Clarke said as she tilted her head and rested it on Raven's shoulder.

"Not even farmers are up yet. They can't see the crops." Raven said with another yawn.

Lexa and Anya looked at the two girls with amused faces.

"Just to let you know, we didn't coordinate our outfits on purpose. It was an accident and we didn't have time to change." Clarke said as she saw the two women looking at them with entertained expressions.

"Yeah. I was dressed first though, for the record. And I wore it better." Raven said as she laid her head on Clarke's lap.

Clarke rolled her eyes.

"Well I think it's pretty cool that the two of you accidentally matched. It shows how connected you two are." Lexa offered with a small smile.

"Yeah, Lex and I do it all the time." Anya stated.

"Is no one going to comment on the fact that I wore it better? I mean, I know we all know it's true, but I'd like to hear it stated aloud from other witnesses." Raven said with a yawn.

"Raven shut up so I can sleep. I want at least a 5 minute nap." Clarke said tiredly.

"We're about 30 minutes away, so you have plenty of time to go back to sleep. And yes Reyes, you wore it better." Anya said with a wink.

"Yeah I did." Raven mumbled as she fell into a light sleep.

Clarke looked at the time on her phone, **6:50am** , and looked at Anya. "Wait, 30 minutes? The airport is only about 15 minutes away from our place."

"While that is true, we have a separate location where we keep our transportation." Lexa said as she made eye contact with Clarke.

Clarke nodded in understanding and tilted her head back in hopes of getting a little more sleep.

"Rich hoes..." Raven mumbled before she fully fell asleep.

With Raven and Clarke fast asleep, there was silence in the car for a while until a thought came to Lexa's mind.

"Clarke wore it better." She said lowly.

Anya looked over at her best friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me? I mean yeah Clarke looks good, but do you see Raven's legs in those shorts? She totally wore it better." Anya responded in hushed tones.

Lexa shook her head. "I see your point about the legs, but look at Clarke's legs too! Are you kidding me? Plus Clarke's blue flannel makes her eyes pop. She wore it better."

"Makes her eyes pop? Oh you've got it bad Lex." Anya said shaking her head.

"Says the one who spends every night on the phone with her girlfriend." Lexa said with a smirk.

"She's not my girlfriend yet, you ass. And plus I'm almost sure if you had Clarke's number it would be the same way. Tell me I'm wrong." Anya said with a challenging look.

"I'm not going to mention the fact that you just said 'yet'. I will, however, mention that you are wrong. Clarke and I have spoken twice. Three times if you include the little comments we've shared this morning. I may like her, but you know I don't do the love thing anymore. Plus I don't even know if she likes me so it doesn't matter."

Anya raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about love? I was just saying that the two of you would probably talk a lot." Anya shrugged. "You're the one that mentioned love." She said with a smirk.

Lexa glared at her but didn't respond. Anya was right. She was the one that mentioned love. Why? Why had she even brought that up? Ugh, whatever. Classic Anya trying to get in her head.

"Clarke wore it better."

* * *

Raven opened her eyes to see that she and Clarke were alone in the back of the limo. They were no longer moving. She took out her phone and checked the time. **7:47am.** Raven yawned and shook her blonde friend awake.

"Griff, wake up. I think Anya and Lexa left us." Raven said as she shook the blonde.

Clarke grumbled and wiped her eyes, looking around the limo. "Raven they're right there." Clarke said, pointing at Anya and Lexa who were standing outside talking to a guy.

"Oh, yeah…windows, I forgot those were there. Okay cool then, found them." Raven said with half a laugh.

"That guy is probably the pilot." Clarke said as she got a better look.

"Forget the guy, look at the that plane! These bitches are loaded." Raven said as she looked at her friend seriously.

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "Did you think I wasn't aware of that?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. But you know how sometimes things aren't real until you actually see them? Like yeah we see the moon at night, but I bet it's a totally different feeling when you land on the moon personally, ya know?"

Clarke nodded. "Yeah I feel you. Maybe we should get out the car now? I kinda want to stretch my legs."

Raven blinked. "Clarke it's a limo. You could literally lay down in here. What do you mean stretch your legs?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Just get out the car." She said as she opened the door.

"Limo." Raven corrected as she climbed behind her friend.

"Nice of you to join us, sleepyheads!" Anya said, as she watched the two girls head their way.

Raven stuck up a middle finger and stuck her tongue out at Anya. "Whatever."

Lexa looked at Clarke as the blonde put on her sunglasses. "Did you sleep well Clarke?" she asked.

Clarke looked up at Lexa and smiled. "I did, thank you. Those seats are way more comfortable than the one's in my car." She said with a chuckle.

Lexa nodded. "Well I'm glad you were comfortable."

Raven and Anya looked between the two girls in front of them. "Yeahhhh, okay. So when are we leaving?" Raven asked.

"As soon as our brother and his girlfriend get here." Anya said with a shrug.

Clarke frowned. "Wait, you two are related? You're sisters?"

Lexa shook her head. "By blood? No, but by every other standard? Yes."

Both Raven and Clarke nodded. "We get that." Raven said with a smile as she leaned on Clarke's shoulder.

Just then a black Bentley pulled up and parked next to the limo. A tall, tan guy got out of the car dressed in black track pants and a white t-shirt.

Raven and Clarke squinted.

"Wait is that…?" Clarke mumbled.

"Lincoln?" Raven finished for her friend.

The guy walked around his car and opened the passenger door. Out stepped a familiar looking dark haired woman. She wore a white v-neck shirt, with black jean shorts, black Doc Martians, and a black and grey flannel was wrapped around her waist. Just like Clarke and Raven.

"O!" Clarke and Raven both shouted.

Lincoln, Lexa, and Anya watched in confusion and amusement as the three girls ran to each other practically squealing and enveloped each other in a hug.

"How are you here?!" Raven asked.

"How are you guys here?!" Octavia asked poking both of her friends' shoulders.

"I think the real question is: how is it that we all basically decided to wear the same outfit?!" Raven said as she gestured to their clothes.

"Well I was dressed first!" Octavia said, crossing her arms.

"Okay but I picked my clothes out the night before." Clarke defended.

"Yeah well, I dress like this all the time so…" Raven said with a shrug.

The clearing of throats drew the girls out of their debate as they turned and looked at the three people looking at them.

"Oh, Hey Lincoln!"

"Hey Linc." Raven and Clarke said as they moved forward to give him a hug.

"Hold the hell on, you two know Lincoln?" Anya asked with raised eyebrows.

"So you must be Octavia." Lexa stated as she extended her hand. "I'm Lexa and this is Anya. It's nice to finally meet you."

Octavia shook Lexa's hand with skeptical eyes and then Anya's.

"Wait, Lexa and Anya?" Octavia turned to her best friends with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Don't start O." Raven glared, as Clarke shook her head with warning eyes.

"Ohhhhh, Lexa and Anya. As in the Lexa that bought all of Clarke's paintings? That has the jawline of a goddess? And Anya, with cheekbones that could cut a brick in half? Anya the girlfriend of Raven Reyes? Oh wait, I'm sorry, 'not yet'. That Lexa and Anya? It's completely nice to meet you too. I've heard so much about you, and I must say nothing was over exaggerated." Octavia said with a wide smile.

Lexa, Anya, and Lincoln's eyebrows disappeared into their hairline at Octavia's description. The three bit back a laugh at the look of embarrassment on Raven and Clarke's faces.

"Lincoln, I hope you won't be too upset after we kill your girlfriend." Raven said as she glared at Octavia who smiled innocently.

"Yeah O, sleep with one eye open." Clarke said as she punched Octavia in the arm.

"Ow! I don't see what the problem is. I was simply trying to make sure I was talking about the right Lexa and Anya. I didn't want to get anything confused, and be talking about the wrong people! That would have made it awkward. Forgive me for trying to be a good friend." Octavia said, trying to hide her grin with a serious face.

Clarke and Raven rolled their eyes.

"So wait Lincoln, how do you know Anya and Lexa?" Octavia asked in confusion.

"Well we've literally known each other since we were in diapers. They're basically my sisters." Lincoln said with a shrug.

Octavia nodded in understanding. "So where are we going?"

"Miami. There's a new Trikru location there so we're going to do training with the new staff." Lincoln answered.

"Speaking of Miami, Linc, Gus said that he couldn't get in touch with you, and to tell you that everything at your place is set up so we can drop our luggage off there when we arrive." Lexa said.

Octavia's eyes went wide. "Wait…Lincoln you have a place in Miami?!"

Lincoln nodded.

"Wait a minute, I know you make a good amount of money managing the gym downtown, but I don't think you make that much." Raven said skeptically.

"Um, Lincoln does a lot more than manage the gym. He owns Trikru with us." Lexa clarified.

Clarke, Raven, and Octavia looked at Lincoln in shock. "What the hell Lincoln?! Why am I just now finding this out?" Octavia asked.

Lincoln tilted his head. "I told you I managed Trikru. What did you think that meant?" He said with a confused frown.

"We thought that meant you were the manager. Like 'Hey can I speak to the manager' not the owner!" Clarke stated.

"But I _manage_ the company… _manage_... _manager_ …I don't see the difference. And how do you think I afforded that Bentley?"

Octavia, Raven, and Clarke looked back at the car and then back at Lincoln and shrugged. "I thought it was your parent's. You said they were loaded so I thought you inherited it." Octavia said as Clarke nodded in agreement.

"I thought you stole it." Raven said bluntly, causing everyone to look at her. "What?! I didn't turn you in, so it's cool."

Lexa chuckled as she shook her head. "Lincoln, I told you to stop saying 'manage' a long time ago. It confuses people bro."

Octavia leaned in a kissed Lincoln on the cheek. "Well, I liked you as the manager and I like you as the owner, so whatever."

"I think I'm going to like you Octavia." Anya said with a smile as she threw an arm around Octavia and Lexa's shoulders, and headed to the plane. "Walk with us, talk with us. Tell us more about how much Raven likes me and about Lexa's jawline."

"Oh it would be my pleasure!" Octavia said as she threw a smirk in her bestfriends' direction.

Raven and Clarke threw their heads back and groaned. Lincoln chuckled and put his arms around the girls' shoulders, as they followed the others to the plane.

"Please don't kill my girlfriend. I actually really like her." Lincoln said with a pout.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah she's okay."

Clarke nodded in agreement. "Yeah she's alright, but I can already tell this is going to be an interesting day." Clarke said with a roll of her eyes, causing Raven and Lincoln to laugh as they loaded onto the plane.


	5. When Your Worlds Collide: Part 2

Clarke awoke to the feeling of being shaken by Raven and Octavia, which is weird because she never even remembered falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was getting on the plane, eating the breakfast (waffles, bacon, and eggs) that Anya, Lexa, and Lincoln had prepared for them, and then leaning her seat back looking out of the window. _I guess I did fall asleep._ She looked up to see everyone crowded around her, looking at her with worried faces.

"Clarke, are you okay?" Octavia asked as she pushed some hair behind Clarke's ear.

"Um, yeah…I'm fine why?" Clarke asked completely confused.

There was a beat of silence as everyone looked at each other and back at the blonde.

"Um, you were tossing and turning…and crying. You were having a nightmare weren't you?" Raven responded with a look of concern.

Just then Clarke realized that her face was wet and that she had indeed been crying, however she couldn't remember dreaming.

"Uh…I don't know. I don't remember anything. I don't even remember going to sleep honestly. But I'm fine you guys."

Everyone looked at her, sharing the same concerned expressions.

"Are you sure?" Anya asked as she handed the blonde a glass of water.

Clarke accepted the glass of water with a smile. "Thanks Anya. And yeah I'm sure guys; I don't even remember the dream so it doesn't matter. Go sit back down I'm fine." She said as she shooed everyone away.

Anya and Lincoln turned to go sit back down, while Lexa, Octavia, and Raven stayed put.

"Clarke…" Octavia started.

"I'm fine, O."

"Griff."

"Rae, I'm fine, I promise. Go sit down. I promise that I'll let you know the minute I'm not okay." She said with a smile.

Raven and Octavia gave in and returned to their seats, Raven sitting on Anya's lap and Octavia laying her head on Lincoln's shoulder. She smiled at the sight of her friends with their significant others. Even if Raven would deny it that she and Anya were together.

"They're cute right?" Lexa said as she took a seat next to Clarke.

"Yeah, sickeningly cute."

They were silent for a moment both in their own thoughts. Clarke could tell Lexa wanted to say something and the wait was making her nervous.

"You're not fine." Lexa said finally.

That wasn't what she was expecting at all. Clarke turned to see Lexa's face covered in concern and what seemed like understanding.

"I am. I promise I'm fine." Clarke responded.

"That wasn't a question, Clarke. It was a statement. It was me telling you that you're not fine. It was me telling you that I can read behind your lines, even when you don't know there are lines to read behind. You only think you're okay because you can't remember the dream. Correct?" Lexa raised her eyebrow in question.

Clarke stared dumbfounded for a moment. She was starting to think that Lexa could read her better than she could read herself. Lexa was right though, yet again. Clarke nodded and looked down avoiding Lexa's eyes.

"I feel fine, I'm just worried about what I could have been dreaming. Ya know? What could have caused me to cry?" Clarke said, mostly to herself.

Lexa hummed. "If you don't want to remember, don't close your eyes for too long." Lexa said.

Clarke looked up at the brunette with confusion written on her face. "Huh?"

"The next time you close your eyes for too long, you'll see it. Whatever the dream was about, you'll see flashes of it, and if it was actually a nightmare…well, it'll hit you twice as hard." Lexa said, looking at Clarke.

"How do you know that?" Clarke asked. She could tell a part of Lexa didn't want to respond, but she did anyway.

"Because it happened…happens to me sometimes." Lexa stopped right there, and she knew she wasn't going to get any more out of the girl.

Clarke took a deep breath, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. She needed to know. What was this specific dream about that made her cry in her sleep? She'd waken up screaming a few times, and woken up in sweat, but never had she woken up crying. When she closed her eyes she was immediately reminded of what caused her to cry. She opened her eyes again.

Lexa was looking at her with furrowed eyebrows and a saddened look. "You wanted to remember the nightmare?"

Clarke smiled as a few tears escaped her eyes. "It wasn't a nightmare actually."

Lexa's eyebrows raised in surprised. "Really? Happy memory?"

Clarke nodded. "Yep. One of my favorite's actually, which is probably why I was crying. But also probably why I was tossing and turning. Sometimes it hurts to remember the good things."

Lexa hummed. "Is it painted?"

Clarke shook her head. "No, surprisingly not. But it may just be my next."

Lexa nodded. "Well, I hope you'll show it to me when you finish it."

Clarke tapped her chin as if in thought. "I will…if…"

Lexa looked at Clarke skeptically. "If what?"

"If when I show you my memory, you tell me one of yours. One of the ones that make you keep your eyes open." Clarke said with a serious expression.

Lexa shook her head and chuckled. "It's always feelings with us, isn't it?"

Clarke shrugged. "Seems to be that way."

Lexa turned in her seat and looked straight ahead, her forehead wrinkled in thought. "Okay then, Clarke, it's a deal." Lexa turned back to the blonde. "Now can we please talk about anything other than feelings?"

Clarke let out a laugh. "Gladly. So what's your favorite color?"

Lexa chuckled. "Really? That's the question you ask?"

Clarke smiled. "Well I figured we could start with the basics."

Lexa nodded. "Okay. Have you ever been to the beach Clarke?"

Clarke nodded. "I have, but it's been a while."

"Well hopefully we go today. But there's a moment…kind of like the one in the painting of the one gave me that night at the gallery, when the sun meets the water. There are a million different sunsets and none of them are the same, but I have noticed that there is a constant in them. There is always a moment where the red sinks into the blue and purple dances in the sky and the yellow meets the orange and sinks into the water. Every time. Over every body of water. This moment happens. At different paces and different shades but it happens. That's my favorite color. And I'm not sure what one would call a union of colors in one setting but that setting is my favorite. I cannot pick one of those colors, simply because it seems bland and lifeless alone. And yourself? What is your favorite color?"

Clarke stared at Lexa for what seemed like an eternity. Clarke was a painter, an artist. She knew how important colors were and what they meant to her, but she had never heard anything like that before. Not about colors. That was fucking poetry and it made her hands itch to paint the scene that had been described to her.

"I-uh-yeah." Clarke said, completely forgetting the question.

Lexa smirked. "You weren't listening to me were you?"

"No no no, I totally was! I heard everything; I just kind of got caught up in my thoughts. The way you described it just…Ask me again."

"I asked what your favorite color is." Lexa said with a smile.

"Oh…I don't know. I don't have one."

Lexa frowned. "You don't have one?"

Clarke shook her head, "Weird I know. You'd think I would have one being an artist and all but nope. And it's not because I like all of them, I just…I've never seen a color that struck me, ya know? I hope I find it one day though."

Lexa nodded. "I hope you do too. Favorite ice cream?"

Clarke smiled. "Birthday Cake! It's like getting the full birthday experience in one bite."

Lexa tilted her head. "They have birthday cake ice cream?"

Clarke's jaw dropped, looking completely offended. "Uh yes! Where have you been?!"

Lexa grinned. "Well I don't eat ice cream so I'm not aware of all of the flavors that have invented."

Clarke groaned. "Please don't tell me you're one of those overly healthy people who only survive off of nuts and berries. I saw you eating those blueberries earlier. Was that your meal for the day?" Clarke teased.

"Mockery is not the product of a strong mind Clarke. But to answer your question, I don't survive on nuts and berries. I simply eat healthy meals." Lexa said.

"Okay so if you don't eat ice cream, what do you eat for dessert?" Clarke questioned.

Lexa raised an eyebrow. "There are a lot of sweet things in the world besides ice cream, Clarke. But when I want to indulge in a cold, savory treat, I eat frozen yogurt. I specifically like the watermelon flavor. It's sweet and yet a tad sour. The flavors dance on my tongue the way a salsa dancer would. It's very delicious. Have you tasted it before?" Lexa asked, not tearing her eyes from Clarke's.

 _I could dance on your tongue. Woah chill Griffin._ Clarke shook her head trying to ignore her thoughts and pressed forward.

"Uh yeah, I've had froyo before. It's really good. But I haven't tried the watermelon kind. So let me guess, you put that healthy granola shit on it?" Clarke said with a smirk.

Lexa chuckled. "Actually I get gummy worms, gummy bears, cheesecake bites, and cherries."

"I'm impressed. Even though cherries are healthy." Clarke teased.

Lexa smirked. "Cherries are healthy, but trust me Clarke, with the amount of cherries I get, it is no longer healthy."

Clarke gulped.

"Oh so you must really like cherries. That your favorite fruit?" Clarke asked, hoping she wasn't appearing as nervous or as turned on as she was.

Lexa hummed. "Oh I love cherries Clarke." Lexa looked down at the blonde's lips and then back to blue eyes. "But strawberries are my favorite."

Before Clarke could respond, Anya and Raven walked over with smirks on their faces.

"So uh, what's going on over here?" Anya said with a grin, waving her finger between the two women sitting in front of her.

"Yeah, I hope we're not interrupting anything." Raven said with a shit-eating grin.

Clarke and Lexa rolled her eyes.

"We were just talking." Clarke said.

"Simply getting to know one another." Lexa added.

"Uh huh. That what the kids are calling it these days?" Lincoln commented as he and Octavia walked over, both wearing the same smirk.

Clarke glared at the four of them. "You guys are the worst. Including you Anya. And Lincoln."

Lexa nodded. "I agree with that statement."

"As if that comment fazes us." Anya threw a shirt at Lexa's face and smirked. "Now get up and change. We're about to land in a few."

Lexa rolled her eyes but got up anyway.

Raven took Lexa's seat, and Octavia sat in Lincoln's lap, all three looking at her expectantly.

"Don't look at me like that. We were just talking."

Raven and Octavia raised their hands. "We didn't say anything Griff."

"Nothing at all babe."

"But if we were to say something..."

"Raven!" Clarke said with a warning tone.

"You guys are so cute together though Clarke!" Octavia whined.

Lincoln nodded. "It did look pretty cute Clarke."

"Oh not you too Lincoln! I-"

Clarke's voice left her when she looked up at the view in front of them a few feet away. Anya and Lexa were standing there talking and Anya was taking off her pants as Lexa unbuttoned her vest.

"Well damnnnnn, give us a show then!" Raven exclaimed when she turned to see what had stopped Clarke from talking.

Anya rolled her eyes as she took off her shirt. "You couldn't handle it if I actually gave you a show."

Raven scoffed and was about to make a sassy comment when Anya took off the muscle shirt she had on, only leaving her in a sports bra.

Anya stood there with a smirk. "See something you like?"

Raven blinked, but didn't respond, her eyes still on Anya's toned body.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" Anya said with a grin.

Lexa shoved her shoulder with a chuckle. "Get dressed and stop playing. Raven don't pay her any attention. She's not as hot as she thinks she is."

Anya scoffed as she finished putting on her track pants and her shirt. "I most certainly am. And I'm dressed! You're the one still standing there taking your sweet time."

"Yeah Lex, you take forever to change clothes." Lincoln said as with a chuckle.

Lexa rolled her eyes as she started unrolled her sleeves and unbuttoned her shirt. The way she got undressed was so precise. She handled her clothes with a delicacy that Clarke had only ever seen when she herself handled a paintbrush. When the brunette pulled her shirt off Clarke almost let out a small gasp. _Almost._ However, when the brunette pulled off her muscle shirt and her pants, leaving her standing there in black Ellen boxers and a sports bra, Clarke let the gasp escape. She knew she was openingly staring but she couldn't look away. Lexa's body was magnificent. But it wasn't the hardcore toned abs or the toned thighs and back muscles that got her attention. No, it was the tattoos. Lexa had tribal tattoos going up both of her arms. Down her back was a tattoo that Clarke couldn't really describe but she knew there had to be a story behind it.

When Clarke heard someone clear their throat she turned her head quickly to the source. Raven, Lincoln, Anya, and Octavia were looking at her with raised eyebrows and knowing grins. She had been caught. But to be honest, at the moment she wasn't trying to hide it.

"Clarkey see something she likes? Something Woodsy perhaps?" Raven said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Clarke wants to go into the Woods." Lincoln teased with a smirk.

Octavia covered her mouth to keep from bursting with laughter.

Clarke looked back at Lexa to see that she had finally put her pants and shirt on and was putting on her shoes. Oblivious to everything else.

Clarke leaned in to the four, her voice in a hushed tone. "The four of you better shut your fucking mouths. I wasn't checking her out; I was just looking at her tattoos. Don't make me throw you off of this plane!"

Anya smirked and leaned in until she was face to face with Clarke. "You can't throw me off of my own plane." She then leaned back and flashed Clarke a smile. "Oh what's that Clarke? I have no idea where Lexa got her tattoos done. You should ask her!" Anya said loud enough to get Lexa's attention.

Clarke quickly turned her head to see if Anya had actually gotten Lexa's attention, and unfortunately green eyes were looking straight at her. She groaned internally.

Lexa got up and sat back in her seat next to Clarke. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

Clarke was lucky Lexa hadn't heard the full part of what Anya said, because Clarke was intrigued by the tattoos, she didn't want to ask about them. That'd mean admitting to looking at Lexa's body in the first place. Nope. She wouldn't ask about them. At least not now. So she decided to just come up with a random question.

"Uh...uh...i-" But of course her brain decided not to work at the moment. _Shit._

"Oh she was asking about your tattoos." Octavia said with a smirk.

Clarke glared as the four in front of her attempted to hold in there laughter.

Lexa looked at her and smiled. "Oh well, I'd be happy to tell you about them. I'll tell you about them when we go get frozen yogurt."

Clarke felt a blush creep up her face. "We're getting frozen yogurt?"

Lexa nodded. "Miami has a frozen yogurt place right near the beach. I go there whenever I visit. I decided we should stop by there. You know, because of our earlier conversation."

"Oooo are we allowed to join? Or is this a first date type of thing?" Octavia asked with a wink.

"Yeah because we wouldn't want to impose." Anya said smirking.

Clarke groaned and Lexa put her head in her hands.

"It's not a date." Lexa said glaring at Anya.

"Exactly. And if you all are going to act like children, then no, you're not invited." Clarke stated.

Octavia scoffed. "You're calling us children? Clarke you literally got stuck in a swing a few weeks ago because, and I quote, "who the fuck do babies think they are getting their own personal swing?" and then we proceeded to wait for the police and fire department to show up. So who's the child now?"

Clarke's face turned red with embarrassment as Lincoln, Anya, and Raven let out a laugh. From the corner of her eye she saw Lexa biting back her own laugh.

Clarke scoffed. "Oh yeah? Well who's the one that decided to go to the playground in the first place? And who's the one that got tangled in the monkey bars?" She said pointedly at Octavia. "Mhmm, that's what I thought."

Octavia glared as the others started laughing even harder, including Lexa. "The only reason I suggested we go, is because this moron wanted to try out that mini bomb she made." She said pointing at Raven. "And at least I could untangle myself from the monkey bars."

"Woah Woah woah, you made a bomb?!" Anya exclaimed, looking at the girl sitting on her lap.

Raven raised her hands in defense. "I would like to point out that we were all drunk and it was a small bomb. No one got hurt. And Griff don't act like we made you go to the park. You're always begging us to go to the park with you." Raven said with a smirk.

Clarke scoffed. "Shut it Reyes."

"So wait, what did the fire department say when they showed up?" Lexa asked rather amused.

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Let's just say we aren't allowed at that park anymore."

The announcement to buckle up for landing caused the laughter to die down as everyone headed back to their seats.

When Clarke got done buckling up, Lexa nudged her arm. "Hey Clarke?"

Clarke turned to see the girl with a serious expression on her face. "Yeah?"

A grin slowly crept up on the brunette's face. "I like parks too."


	6. When She Says It's Okay

The limo ride to the new Trikru location was filled with banter, jokes, and embarrassing stories. No one was safe from being embarrassed, which made the ride a lot more fun. Luckily for everyone, the limo pulled to a stop right outside of the new gym.

"You guys are a riot, I swear." Raven said between laughs, as she stepped out of the limo. "Anya I can't believe you got an ice cream cone stuck in your nose!"

Anya huffed as everyone continued to laugh. "It was a dare! And it happened a long time ago! Let's drop it."

Lexa patted her on the shoulder and grinned. "An, it was two months ago. I would hardly call that a long time ago."

Anya huffed and rolled her eyes. "Can we go in now? I'm ready to see the place and work with the newbies."

A serious look took over Lexa's face and she nodded. "Most definitely. Let's go." She said as she headed inside.

Anya nudged Lincoln's shoulder. "Uh oh. Think the Commander is about to come out?"

Lincoln chuckled and shook his head. "The Commander is always out. The real question is how many people do you think the Commander will destroy today?"

Anya thought for a moment. "Well you know she doesn't engage unless someone needs to be taken down a peg. Let's meet the group first and then we'll see."

Lincoln nodded with a smirk.

Octavia, Clarke, and Raven looked at the two, waiting for an explanation. When one didn't come Octavia sighed.

"Okay what the "the Commander" thing about?" Octavia sighed.

Lincoln and Anya smirked. "You'll see." Lincoln said as he head the door open for them to enter the gym.

The gym studio was huge, three stories high to be exact. The walls were painted black with art designs of vines and trees. There were quotes painted on the walls, and a wall of signatures. The atmosphere was scented with smells of vanilla and lavender.

"Damn, this is nice!" Raven said with a whisper.

Clarke and Octavia nodded in agreement.

"ANYA! LINCOLN!"

Everyone turned their heads to see a big, intimidating guy with a face tattoo and a beard, coming towards Anya and Lincoln with open arms. He wrapped his arms around them both and swung them around.

"Ahh! Gustus! We're not little anymore!" Anya said with a laugh.

The big guy, Gustus apparently, finally sat them down. "If it makes you feel any better, I did the same thing to Lex too."

"Which was completely uncalled for." Lexa said with a playful glare, as she walked up to the group.

"Blah blah. So who are these beautiful ladies?"

Lincoln put his arm around Octavia's waist and smiled. "Gus this is my girlfriend Octavia. Oct, this is our Uncle Gustus."

Octavia shook Gustus' hand. "Nice to meet you sir."

Gustus smiled and shook her hand. "Please call me Gustus. Or Gus…or whatever."

He turned his head to Raven and Clarke and smiled. "And who are you two beauties?"

Octavia smirked. "Oh this is Raven. Anya's girlfriend. And this is Clarke…her and Lexa haven't gotten together yet, but…give it time." She said with a smirk.

Lexa, Clarke, Anya, and Raven glared at her while Lincoln tried to hold back a laugh.

Raven smirked. "Well, technically Anya and I haven't put a title to it yet. But she wants me so, details details."

Anya rolled her eyes. "You wish Reyes."

Clarke rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and stuck her hand out. "Nice to meet you Gustus. Please ignore them. This is a lovely place." She said with a smile as she shook his hand.

Gustus smiled. "Well thank you Clarke. It's nice to meet all three of you. It's about time these three rowdy demons settle down with nice girls like you three." He said causing Anya, Lincoln, and even Lexa to laugh.

"Unc, please! Based off of the stories we've heard about them, we're definitely not as rowdy as them. And they're not nice!" Anya said.

Octavia, Clarke, and Raven scoffed. "We are extremely nice! Good, nice girls who stay out of trouble." Clarke said feigning shock.

Gustus laughed. "I believe you Clarke. I'm sure you three will keep them out of trouble." He said with a wink.

Lexa chuckled. "Or get us into it."

Raven rolled her eyes. "We'll see. Shouldn't you guys be working or something anyway?"

Lexa looked at her watched. "Hmmm, we have ten minutes to kill until we have to start training. Anything we should know about the new possible recruits?"

Gustus tilted his head to the side. "Hmm, I've got a few videos of them sparring that you might want to see. Follow me to my office."

"Oooo, can I ride on your back?!" Octavia asked with excitement.

"Yeah Uncle Gustus PLEASEEEEE?!" Raven asked as if she was a little kid.

Gustus chuckled and bent down so the two girls could get on his back. "Clarke, you want on?"

Clarke laughed and shook her head. "Nah, I'll let them have this time."

Gustus nodded, and headed to his office as everyone else followed.

Clarke took the time to admire the designs on the walls and how intricate they were. One quote and design right outside of Gustus' office caught her eye and she stopped to look at it.

" _Fighting is not just physical. It is mental. It is emotional. It is spiritual. We are always fighting in some form. It's okay."-Commander_

The words were white but they were tangled in vines as if the words were being squeezed.

"What do you think?"

Clarke turned to see Lexa standing next to her.

"You said this…right?" Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded.

"And you came up with the design?"

Lexa nodded again.

"What does it mean?"

Lexa tilted her head as she looked at Clarke. "What do you mean? Is it not self-explanatory?"

Clarke turned to look at the design again. "I understand it…I think. You're saying that it's okay to fight right? But why the design?"

Lexa frowned in thought. "Well, I'm not just saying it's okay to fight, but that it's normal. It's normal to battle with others in different ways. But not only that, it's normal to battle with yourself. People seem to think that it's a bad thing to fight, and that's not always the case. The real problem is what you're fighting for. We all have something we are fighting. We are fighting something, or fighting for something, or fighting against something. There's no reason to be ashamed of that. No life is perfect, and if it is, then that means they had to fight to get there."

"And the design…well, I never said fighting was easy. Fighting is draining. It can and does hold you hostage sometimes. When you're fighting something you can feel as though you're being strangled by the issues. As if your demons are trying to pin you down. That is why we fight. And if you fight hard enough… you can break free. Fighting doesn't have to last for an eternity. That's why I related to your painting that night. It showed a fight. An emotional one. And it was strong and passionate and it was a good fight, a fair fight, a fight that isn't over yet, but a fight you will win."

Clarke smiled as she thought about that night. She also thought about the broken infinity logo that represented the gym . "So the Trikru logo…comes from this?"

Lexa smiled and nodded. "Exactly."

Clarke smirked. "And I noticed that you have it tattooed on the back of your neck too…So tell me, what are you fighting for? Or against?"

Lexa shook her head and grinned. "Nope. We are not talking about feelings right now. I know what you're trying to do Clarke Griffin."

Clarke laughed and held her hands up in mock surrender. "Fine you caught me."

Lexa laughed. "Come on little sneaky." She said as she took Clarke's hand and pulled her into Gustus' office with the others.

"OH! How nice of you two to join us!" Anya said with a smirk.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "So how are the recruits for the staff looking?"

Lincoln shook his head. "They're….something. They are all qualified but…"

"…but there are quite a few egos." Anya finished for him.

"Yeah, those two girls in the first video…man they were something." Octavia said with a shake of her head.

"Yeah. That's Nia and Ontari. They're...well they know their stuff." Gustus said with a shrug.

Lexa raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Hmph. Well I look forward to meeting them. I'll meet you guys in there in four minutes." Lexa said as she headed out of the office.

Anya smirked. "So Lincoln, after seeing the videos…how many people will the Commander destroy today?"

Lincoln smiled. "I'm putting $20 on the table that she'll completely ruin 4 people." Lincoln said as he placed the money on Gustus' desk.

Raven tilted her head in thought. "Nah Linc, I'm gonna say it's 3." She said as she put her money next to Lincoln's.

Gustus grunted as he stood up taking out his wallet. "Lexa doesn't put up with disrespect. I say she'll fire 7 people before they even get hired for the job. Trust me, I've met everyone."

Octavia shook her head. "I don't think so. Lexa seems like she has a high tolerance. I'll say maybe 2 people." She said as she added her money.

Anya shook her head. "All of you are wrong. They don't know that we're going to be here. They don't know what the owners look like, so they'll just think we're there to help with training. They'll be more likely to be disrespectful and egotistical that way. Lexa is gonna go in there and find at least 5 people who are disrespectful and need to be taken down a peg, and then 4 people who just won't be cut out for the job. I'm gonna say 9 people. 9 people will leave out of here today, with no jobs and aching in places they didn't even know existed."

Everyone then turned to look at Clarke.

"You want in on this Clarke?" Anya asked.

Clarke shook her head. "You guys are crazy. Lexa isn't going to fire anybody. Or "destroy" anyone. You're all over exaggerating. Lexa doesn't really seem like the violent type."

They all looked at her with blank stares.

"We shall see kitten…We shall see." Anya said as she patted Clarke's head.

"Now let's go into the training room before Lexa chews our heads off for being late." Gustus stated.

The five of them followed Gustus down the hall and to the left into a huge room labeled "Employees Only". The floor was covered by a soft black mat. There were racks of different kinds of sparring sticks and punching bags all around. Lexa stood to the side watching as the newbies either stood around socializing or practicing different moves. She headed towards the group when she saw them come in.

"Octavia, Raven, Clarke, I brought chairs in here for you all, in case you want to hang out and watch. If not, you can take the car around town until we're done, or whatever you would like to do." She said gesturing to the chairs she had set up off to the side,

"We definitely want to stay and watch. Now go ahead and go do your thing. Go ahead! Go!" Raven said as she pushed Anya, Lincoln, Lexa, and Gustus away.

As Clarke, Raven, and Octavia took a seat, Gustus blew a whistle stopping all movement. "Alright guys gather around. Now as you know there is quite a lot that goes into the interviewing process here. If you're here that means you've made it to the last stage, so give yourself a round of applause." Loud cheers and whistles filled the room and quieted down as Gustus continued. "This last stage is going to be difficult, but if you've got what it takes then you'll be working here. This is about to be some intensive training. You'll be training in all aspects. But enough of that, I'm going to let the trainers that have come in today take over."

Anya, Lexa, and Lincoln stepped up and there was an immediate shift in the room. Gustus looked at the three girls sitting down and winked. "Their warrior mode has been activated." He whispered.

Anya cleared her throat and began. "I'm Anya. Like Gustus said, this is about to get intense. We will be training for the next few hours so buckle up and get ready. I'm here to help train you to become better. To make sure you have what it takes. I'm not one for nonsense and half-assing shit. Either you do it all the way, or don't do it at all. Above all, I just want to make one thing clear; you are not the best. There is someone somewhere that is better than you. You are here to become the best while helping others do the same. Is that clear? Good. Linc?"

"I'm Lincoln. Working here can be a fun experience; I want you to know that. However, today is not that day. We will train, and we will train hard. If you fall, get up. If you punch, punch harder. If you get hit, hit back. It's simple. Let's get one thing straight though, I don't do slackers. You will learn everything. I don't care if your specialty is boxing. You will learn how to wrestle. You will learn every bit of martial arts. You will learn everything that we offer here. You will be diverse. You will better yourselves in every aspect here. Understood? Good."

The room fell quiet as everyone waited for Lexa to speak. She glanced around the room with a stoic expression, making eye contact with every person, before speaking. "Any questions or comments concerning the training today?" she asked in a calm low voice.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" a guy from the back called.

Anya and Lincoln looked at each other with a small smirk.

Lexa tilted her head slightly. "What's your name?"

The guy from the back smiled cockily. "It's Finn."

"Well, Finn, how exactly does your question concern the training today?"

Finn's smile faltered. "Uh…I guess it doesn't."

Lexa nodded. "Then I suggest that you hush your mouth so that we may begin. Anya?"

Anya hid her smirk and addressed the group. "Alright. There are 40 of you here. Give me four straight lines, 10 in each line. Math is not hard." She waited until everyone was situated and continued. "Now close your eyes, and choose a fighting stance, whatever that may be, I don't care. Now breathe in and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out. Good good, keep going."

While Anya gave her speech, Lexa and Lincoln had taken off their shoes and were walking around throughout the group calmly. Their footsteps were light and delicate.

"Keep breathing. The key to this exercise is to become one with yourself. Be comfortable in your body and in your stance."

The room had gone completely silent, and the only thing that could be heard was collective breathing, that is until two loud thuds were heard followed by two louder groans.

Everyone opened their eyes and looked around to see that Lexa and Lincoln had flipped two of the group members. Finn and another guy were getting up slowly with groans.

"And listening." Lexa said with a small smirk. "The key to this training portion is also listening."

"Because had they been listening to their surroundings, they would have heard us coming. They would have known of our presence." Lincoln added.

"Now, everyone, back in your positions. Eyes closed, ears open, light breathing." Anya continued, as she joined the other two within the mix.

Clarke, Raven, and Octavia watched with dropped jaws as Lexa, Lincoln, and Anya flipped people randomly. Seven minutes of flipping people continued until people finally started to catch on. One by one people started to duck and dodge and defend themselves at the right times, until not one of them was able to be snuck up on.

"Alright, everyone take a knee." Lincoln instructed. "Listening is a very important factor when fighting. Listening and watching can and will tell you everything you need to know about your opponent, but you have to be paying attention. Everyone in here was eventually able to defend themselves and stop the sneak attack before it happened, which is good, but tell me what you guys did wrong." Lincoln said as he looked at the group.

"Really? No hands? You're in the last stage of the training and you don't know what you guys did wrong? Some of you have been doing martial arts for years and you have no idea what you guys did wrong?" Anya said with a frustrated voice.

"Oh come on…even I know what you did wrong!" Octavia said with an annoyed huff.

Everyone turned to look at the brunette girl with questioning glances.

"And what did they do wrong Octavia?" Lexa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"They didn't listen for each other. It was more of an "every person for themselves" kind of vibe out there. No teamwork." Octavia said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah that's cool when you're fighting by yourself, but by the looks of it, it's 3 against 40. They should have been looking out for the person next to them or in front of them. They could have stopped the attack before it happened." Raven inputted.

"Yeah, you guys aren't thinking outside of the box enough. I don't know much about fighting, but I know a lot about art, and if you want to get a different paint color you have to mix some things up sometimes to get a different result. Like why did no one try tripping them if you knew they were coming? It's a small and simple move but it could have made a huge difference." Clarke added.

Anya, Lexa, and Lincoln smirked.

"Well...you all should be really embarrassed. It seems they know more about your jobs than you do." Lexa said with a small smirk, but it disappeared quickly. "Now everyone get up, get in your stance and let's do this again. This time you can keep your eyes open."

"And try to take the advice of the three lovely ladies over there. It'll do you some good." Lincoln said.

Once everyone was up and in their positions again, Lexa winked at Gustus. Gustus then turned to his left and flipped off the light switch, making the room go absolutely pitch black catching everyone off guard. Sounds of struggles, thuds and groans quickly filled the room before Gustus turned the light back on two minutes later. When the light came back on, there were forty people lying or sitting on the mat groaning, while Anya, Lincoln, and Lexa stood with crossed arms and smiles.

"Okay then. Everybody get up. When you get down you don't stay down, unless something is broken and even then that's questionable. And all that's broken right now is your pride. Never surrender to the mat. We're going to do that until it takes us at least 10 minutes to get all of you down. Everybody up and in position!" Anya barked out.

"Gustus, Lights!" Lincoln shouted.

As more sounds of struggling and thuds began, Clarke nudged her bestfriends. "How long do you think it would take you two to get Lincoln and Anya on the mat?" she whispered.

Octavia snorted. "It'd literally take me maybe three minutes…and I'm being generous."

Raven snickered. "Same. But then again, Anya seems to have a high tolerance to my sweet bod. But I think I could get her worked up enough to distract her and take her down. What about you Clarke?"

Clarke turned to look at Raven, even though she couldn't see the girl's face. "What about me?"

Raven rolled her eyes, even though no one could see it. "How long do you think it'd take you to lay Lexa out on the mat?" Raven asked, as of the question was obvious.

"Oh please, all she would have to do is ask Lexa to surrender, and Lexa would literally lie down on the mat herself." Octavia said with a giggle.

"Trueeeee." Raven responded.

"Yeah, the Commander has some serious heart eyes going on if you ask me." Gustus said as he chimed in on the conversation.

Clarke shook her head. "You guys are ridiculous. There are no heart eyes or anything else happening." She whispered back.

"Whatever you say, but now I'm interested in making another bet." Raven said.

"Hmmm, which involves?"

"Which one of us can get them down on the mat first? I take Anya, O, you take Lincoln, and Griff you get Lexa."

"Are there any rules to this bet?" Clarke asked.

"You can't tell them about the bet. You win when their backs or stomachs are on the mat."

"Okay so I can use anything? Like I can run and tackle Lincoln, or like show him a boob or something?" Octavia asked.

"I'm not sure showing him your boob would make him surrender, O." Clarke said with a laugh.

"Please, have you seen my balloons? They're beautiful."

"Yeah yeah O, beautiful bobbies, we got it. But yeah, do whatever you have to do, say whatever you have to say. The person that takes the least amount of time wins."

"Well what do you win?" Gustus asked.

"Uhhh…"

"Winner doesn't have to clean anything for a week." Octavia suggested.

"Let's make it two. Deal?" Clarke added.

"Deal."


	7. When She Makes You Feel

3 hours had gone by and Lexa's patience was wearing thin. She kept trying to remind herself to keep calm but some things just need to be dealt with. Ontari, Nia, and Finn had been testing her ever since training started and she was close to ripping their heads off. They walked around with an arrogance she had never witnessed. They acted as if they knew everything. As if they ran the show. As if they had nothing left to learn. Lexa sighed. As much as she wanted to bash their heads in and send them out on their asses, she wanted to make a good impression on Clarke. She didn't know why but she didn't want the blonde to see that side of her. Any other time, she would have been fine being seen as hard and rough and ruthless, but today, with Clarke here, she didn't want to been seen as such.

"Okay everyone, take a break and meet back in here in fifteen minutes." She yelled.

Everyone mumbled and groaned their thanks for the break as Anya and Lincoln approached her with smirks.

"Something wrong Commander?" Anya asked knowingly.

Lexa glared but said nothing.

"I think the Commander is on the verge of punching some faces in." Lincoln said with a grin.

"Come on Lex, go ahead and do it. Please, I'd love to see it. I've wanted to shut them up since we started." Anya said with a sigh.

"Honestly guys, I just don't understand how their egos can fit in the same room with everyone else. Those are some of the biggest egos I've ever seen." Lexa said with a huff.

"Don't look now but I think you guys' favorite students are hitting on your girls." Gustus said as he walked up to them.

Lincoln, Anya, and Lexa's heads turned to see Ontari, Finn, and Nia talking to Raven, Clarke, and Octavia. Nia was talking to Raven, while Ontari and Finn spoke to Clarke and Octavia.

Anya frowned and clenched her fists. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she said as she headed towards the scene.

Lincoln closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. "Lexa, if you don't handle them, we will." He said as he followed Anya.

Lexa took a deep breath and followed behind the other two.

"Honestly babe, I promise you we'll be running this place in a few years, if that long." Ontari said as she winked at Raven.

"Running the place? Hell, we'll be running the company. And if you play your cards right, maybe you'll be right by our sides when we do so." Nia said to the three girls.

Octavia, Raven, and Clarke held back their smiles as they saw the frustrated and jealous faces of Lexa, Lincoln, and Anya approaching.

"Uh, no thanks. Plus I'm already in a happy relationship, so I'm good." Octavia said with a tight smile.

"Well what about you blondie? Want a piece of this? We can-" Finn said, gesturing to himself.

"No, we're all good. Thanks though." Raven interrupted with an eye roll.

"Yeah, you all should probably go practice or something." Clarke said with an annoyed voice.

"Come on, sweetheart, you saw us out there. We don't need any practice. We're better than those so-called trainers. Who do they think they are anyway?" Ontari said with a scoff.

Lexa cleared her throat causing the three to turn around.

"I think the ladies said they didn't want to be bothered." Lexa said calmly, ignoring the last statement that was made.

"Uh, no offense but I don't think this none of your business." Nia said with a glare.

"Yeah we're just trying to talk to them." Finn said with a wink towards Octavia.

Lincoln pulled the boy by the shirt, nearly raising him off the floor. "Wink at her again and you won't have an eyelid to blink with." Lincoln said his voice dangerously low.

"Lincoln." Lexa said warningly.

Lincoln let go of Finn's shirt and stepped back.

"Let's get one thing clear. You are not to go near them again. Do I make myself clear?" Anya said as she stepped up to Ontari.

Ontari scoffed. "Oh, scared I'll steal your girlfriend away from you?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Bitch please," Raven said, as she looked at her nails with an uninterested expression. "Why would I leave Armani to go to Wal-Mart? You never had a chance." She said with a wink towards Anya.

"What about you blondie?" Nia asked as she turned to look at Clarke. "You taken?"

"Even if Clarke isn't taken, she made it clear that she's not interested. Plus, she's too good for you. So how about you just leave her alone? How about all three of you leave them alone, because I would hate to have to make you." Lexa said, her voice dangerously calm.

Nia laughed and so did Ontari and Finn. "Do you really think any of you in here could take us? Yeah right." Ontari said.

Anya and Lincoln got ready to attack but they were stopped by Lexa. "No please, let me." She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You three against me. Grab a sparring stick. If you win, you can teach the rest of the class."

Nia laughed and shook her head. "Something tells me you can get me a meeting with one of the top dogs. If we win, you get us a meeting with someone important."

Lexa swallowed a grin and nodded. "Deal." She then walked towards the middle of the room and positioned herself for the fight.

"Aren't you gonna get a sparring stick?" Finn asked smugly, as he twirled is staff around.

Lexa smirked. "I don't need one."

Immediately, Ontari, Nia, and Finn walked towards Lexa, starting the fight.

Clarke stood up instantly and grabbed Anya's elbow. "Don't you think you two should be helping her?!"

Anya smirked at the worried look on Clarke's face. "Does it look like she needs our help?" She said as she nodded her head towards Lexa.

Clarke looked up to see Finn already lying on the ground barely moving. Lexa had his and Ontari's sparring sticks in her hands. She moved with a grace that Clarke had never seen before. It was as if Lexa was dancing. Her feet moved swiftly and lightly, her arms and body moving and dodging so easily, as if she had done this a million times. She quickly used one staff to flip Ontari on her back, as she used the other to block Nia's oncoming hits. Once Ontari was on her back, Lexa focused her full attention on Nia. With a blink of an eye, Lexa twirled and swung her leg, knocking Nia from off of her feet and onto her back. Lexa stood over the girl with a smile.

"Looks like I won huh?" she said as Nia glared up at her. "Don't worry, I'll still introduce you to the top management." She gestured for Lincoln and Anya to come over as the three got up slowly with groans.

Lincoln and Anya swaggered over with smug grin on their faces. "I'm Lexa Woods. This is Anya Vine and Lincoln Grounder. We are the owners of Trikru."

Gasps and murmurs came from the group that had crowded around to watch the fight.

"While we're making a spectacle, I might as well state the obvious." Lexa said with a smirk. "Ontari, Nia, Finn…you're fired. You can get your stuff and get out. If you refuse, I will escort you out myself, and I can promise you that it won't be gentle." Lexa looked around the room and glared as the fired three gathered their things. "Trikru is more than just about fighting. Trikru is about respect, honesty, wisdom, courage, compassion, and humility. We work together, we fight together. We are here to better lives, not tear them down. If you cannot respect each other you will fail. You if you cannot realize that you are equal to the person standing next to you, you will fail. I do not only mean that you will fail here, but I also mean that you will fail in life. Speed will not help you win. Tricks will not help you win. Strength will not help you win. What helps you win is not underestimating your opponent. When you go into a fight no matter what kind, give it your all, because the second you underestimate them, they will lay you on your back. At Trikru we are leaders, and we will not have arrogant leaders. If you cannot humble yourself enough, then you can follow them out. Does anyone else want to question our authority? Okay then, let's start the second half of the training."

* * *

Two hours later, everyone was grumbling as they picked up their money off of Gustus' desk.

"I can't believe none of us won this dumb bet. If she had just stopped with the first three, I would have won." Raven said with a huff.

"How were we supposed to know she'd end up firing ten more people? That girl is ruthless." Octavia said with a hint of amusement.

Anya chuckled. "You should have seen her when we did the training before the LA studio opened. She literally fired everyone and the grand opening was two days away. AND SHE DIDN'T POSTPONE IT! We had to stay in LA for 2 months while running the studio and hiring new people. She is the literal definition of ruthless."

"If I recall correctly, you fired at least 12 of those people Anya, and Lincoln fired 4, so don't blame the LA fiasco on me." Lexa said as she entered Gustus' office. She looked at the money in everyone's hands and rolled her eyes. "Were you guys betting on me again?"

"Yeah we were, and we all lost thanks to you." Anya said shaking her head.

"Speaking of losing…we still need to do that thing." Octavia said while looking at Raven and Clarke pointedly.

"Oh riiightttt! That thing. We should totally go do that now." Clarke said, remembering the bet they had made earlier in the day.

Raven frowned and looked at the two girls. "What thing?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Remember that _thing_ …the thing you needed to show Anya…the _thinggg._ "

Raven snapped her fingers. "OH! The thing! Yeah yeah yeah, let's go do the thing. I'll go first." She said pulling Anya's arm towards the training room.

Octavia turned to Lexa and Lincoln. "You two stay here, and we'll be back." She then left closing the door, leaving the two shrugging.

* * *

Anya and Raven stood in the middle of the mat facing each other. Gustus pulled out his phone and readied his timer. When Raven gave him a wink, he started it.

"Raven what's going on?" Anya asked skeptically.

Raven batted her eyelashes and smiled innocently. "Nothing. I just want to talk to you." Raven laid down on the mat and patted the area next to her.

Anya turned her head to see Gustus, Clarke, and Octavia watching them attentively. She raised her eyebrows asking a silent question but they all just shrugged. She shrugs as she sits down next to the brunette.

 _So close_. Raven thought.

"Lay down with me?" Raven asks innocently as she takes out her phone. "I want to take a picture with you."

Anya shakes her head with a slight grin. "We don't willingly lie on the mat Rae."

Raven pokes out her lip and goes into a deep pout. "Pleaseee? For me?"

Anya chuckles and shakes her head.

Raven sighs. "Fine. But I do want to give you something." She says as she straddles Anya's lap, and kisses the girl gently.

The kiss ends too quickly for both girls.

"What was that for? Not that I didn't enjoy it." Anya asks with a grin.

"That's for being all intimidating to the Ontrono girl. I mean, I could have handled her myself, but it's nice to have someone being protective over me. You know, other than Clarke and O. Plus you're really cute when you're jealous." Raven says with a wink.

Anya looks away and sighs. "Rae, I wasn't jealous, I just…I mean I guess I was. I don't know. I…Look, I really like you. And I know we usually just banter and stuff, which I absolutely love, but I never want you to question if I truly like you or not, because I do. And I protect the things that are important to me, and in such a small amount of time, you have wiggled your way into the list of things that I deem important to me so…yeah, I'm going to intimidate and fight anyone I need to, so that they know that they're not allowed to cross you or disrespect you. I want you to know that you're safe with me. I know you can handle yourself, trust me I know, but I like being there for you…if you'll let me."

"Anya…look at me."

Anya looks up at the sound of Raven's voice. The girl's eyes are watery and she's smiling like an idiot.

"I really like you too. And I want to protect you too. I may not be able to flip and punch people yet, notice I said yet because I plan on you teaching me that shit, but I can still protect you. I don't know if you've forgotten this or not, but I can make bombs Anya. And if any hoe ever tries to steal you away from me, I'll blow her ass up. We may have to go on the run after that…you know, flee to Mexico and change our names to Juan and Pablo, but it'd be worth it…you know as long as I can be with you. Which sounds so cray, because I know we just met but you…Anya there's this thing about you…like something is pulling me towards you and demanding me to fall for you, demanding me to be with you…demanding me to…-"

"-love" Anya finishes off in a whisper, because she knows. She knows what Raven means because she feels it too. "I know, I feel it too."

Raven sighs, relief rolling off of her, because she really didn't want to sound crazy or like she was moving too fast, but she really wants the girl in front of her…she wants…"Anya, will you be my girlfriend?" Raven blurts out before she can stop herself.

Anya's eyebrows shoot up and a wide knowing grin spreads over her face at the look of embarrassment on her girl's face. "You didn't' mean to say that did you?"

Raven shakes her head but smiles anyway. "I meant I meant it, I just didn't want to give in and ask first!" She says with a huff of annoyance as she crosses her arms.

Anya laughs and pulls Raven in for a kiss, lying on her back as the girl continues to kiss her.

"ABOUT TIME! WHAT THE FUCK RAVEN THAT TOOK FOREVER!" Clarke shouts, breaking up the moment the two girls were having.

They stand up quickly, both having forgotten that they were being watched.

Anya turns to Raven with a questioning look. "What took forever?"

Raven scratches the back of her neck and avoid the tall blonde's gaze. "Uh we're kind of having a bet of who can get one of you to lie on the mat down the fastest. I think I just lost terribly though."

Anya laughs as she put her arm around the shorter girl. "That's why you wanted me to lay down?!"

Raven nodded as they approached the others.. "It was a hard task I must say, but then it took a turn and I kinda forgot about the mission."

"Yeah, I'd say you forgot. Your time was 6 minutes and 24 seconds." Gustus says with a laugh.

Raven cringed. "Yeahhh, definitely not gonna win this."

"Technically you did win, because you got me, so congratulations." Anya said with a smug grin.

"Ugh, Lexa just talked about arrogance Anya. It's not cute." Raven says trying to hold back her smile.

"Hold up, are you two together now? I mean you've been together, but I mean together together?" Octavia asks.

Raven shrugs. "What can I say? She couldn't resist the Reyes charm. I'm surprised she held out for this long."

Anya scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please. You should have heard how quickly she asked me to be her girlfriend. The desperation was incredible."

"Okay but who ended up laying on the mat? Oh okay, that's what I thought. Classic Mat Hoe." Raven retorts.

Clarke shakes her head with a laugh. "You two are perfect for each other."

"Blah blah, yeah you're cute. I just texted Lincoln and told him to come in here. I'm almost positive my plan will work quicker and faster than either one of yours." Octavia says with a smug grin.

"Hey what's up?" Lincoln asks as he opens the door.

"Nothing babe, just go stand in the middle of the mat…with your back facing us." Octavia says with an innocent smile.

Lincoln looks at the others and just shrugs before walking to the center of the room.

"This is gonna be too easy." Octavia whispers.

"I don't think so O. Linc is built like a rock." Clarke says back.

"I'm sure even a rock has soft spots." Octavia says with a grin.

"I don't think that's tru-"

"Shhhh, start the time Gus." Octavia says. Not a second later, she's running full speed towards Lincoln. She jumps on his back with all that she has and his body moves a tad. That's it. Nothing else happens. He's just standing there and she looks like a koala on a tree.

"How did you not fall?!" Octavia asks with wide eyes.

"Octavia, you're so small, are you kidding me?" Lincoln responds teasingly, knowing that the girl hates being call small.

"I AM NOT SMALL! I AM MIGHTY! YOU WILL GO DOWN!" Octavia yells as she begins to try to wrestle Lincoln down to the ground. After quite a few seconds past, she figures it's not going to work and she changes her tactics. She jumps off of his back and looks at his amused but kind face. She leans in for a kiss, and just as he leans back, she starts to tickle his sides. He instantly falls to the ground in laughter.

"O stop it! S-st-stoooppppp! Babe please!" Lincoln pleads between laughs.

Octavia hops up with a wide grin and walks towards her audience as Lincoln follows behind. "Soft spot."

"2 minutes and 53 seconds. Not bad!" Gustus says.

"What exactly were you attempting to accomplish?" Lincoln asks, trying to regulate his breathing from laughing so hard.

"They're having a competition on which one of them can get us on the mat the fastest, and you my brother were so easy to tame. That was ridiculous Lincoln." Anya says with a scoff.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Well I'm ticklish Anya! You know this! I can't believe you didn't warn me."

"Yeah well, I didn't get a warning so…"

"Blah blah! I've basically already won, but Clarke still has to go so we'll entertain the idea that she can beat me." Octavia says.

Clarke rolls her eyes. "We'll see about that. Go get Lexa and bring her in here. When she comes in don't say anything. Start the timer as soon as she walks in." Clarke says as she goes to lie down on the mat.

Lincoln goes to get Lexa while the others wait. When the brunette walks in, her eyes immediately go to the blonde lying down in the center of the floor.

"What's the matter with Clarke?" She asks, receiving shrugs in response.

Lexa walks over to the blonde and looks down at her. She's met with blue questioning eyes. "Lexa do you trust me?"

Lexa nods immediately. "I do. What's wrong?"

"I have an idea for a design and I want you to hear me out." Clarke says as she pats the space next to her.

Lexa nods and instantly lies down next to the blonde without question. She ignores the yells of "What the fuck" and "Lexa how dare you" coming from their friends. She's with Clarke right now, and Clarke is talking to her, so nothing else matters.

"I want to paint the ceilings. Well…I mean, _I_ don't have to paint the ceilings but I think you should put something on the ceilings." Clarke says.

"Something like what?"

"It's okay." Clarke says simply.

Lexa turns her head to look at Clarke.

"It's okay?"

"Yeah. "It's Okay."" When Lexa doesn't respond, Clarke explains. "Look Lexa, you're a fighter, I know this. But you're not ruthless. I know you care. That's why you fired those people today, because you care. You want the best of the best for the people that come to this place. You want them to come in and feel welcomed, and invited. You want them to feel as though they are taken seriously and that they can do anything they put their minds to. You want them to feel strong and brave in every aspect. You want them to fight to survive. But deep down inside you know that life is about more than just surviving. You also want them to feel safe. You want this gym to be their safe place. And I think they would feel that if they looked up at the ceiling and saw those words. When their back is on the mat and they just got taken down for the 5th time, or when they're wiping the sweat off of their face, feeling like they can't go on. When they're holding back tears because they tore a muscle or dislocated their shoulder…they'll look up and see those words. They'll see those words and they'll feel the way you make me feel."

Lexa looks back up at the ceiling, her heart pounding in her chest. "And how do I make you feel Clarke?" she asks with a swallow.

Clarke's heartbeat quickens and she closes her eyes, because the way Lexa says her name is dangerous and exciting. "You make me feel…safe. Important. Like I matter. Like what I feel and think could change a life somehow. You make me _feel_. And I haven't really felt anything in a while." Clarke says almost a whisper.

Lexa sits up and looks at the blonde, she turns away quickly because if she looks too long things will happen, and Lexa isn't ready for things to happen. Clarke needs a friend, and Lexa…well Lexa needs to get her shit together before she can even think about how she feels about Clarke.

"You…-I think that's an excellent idea Clarke. I want you to come up with the design and when you're finished with it, it will go in every Trikru gym studio. Because you're right Clarke, I want people to feel safe here. So I want you to design it, because I know that when people look at something painted by Clarke Griffin, they feel something, and I know you'll capture safety in its truest essence."

"How do you know? That people feel stuff, I mean." Clarke asks, now sitting up meeting Lexa's eyes.

Lexa smiles a small smile. "Because you made me feel things. And I…I haven't felt stuff in years Clarke, so if I can feel it…I know other people can."

Lexa stands up and reaches her hand out to help Clarke up. As they towards their friends, Lexa is suddenly fully aware of the glares she's getting. "Um…what?"

"Lexa are you kidding me?! Are you actually fucking kidding me?" Octavia shouts.

"I'm too disappointed to even look at you." Anya says as she turns her head.

"Clarke that literally took 26 seconds. What did you say?!" Gustus asks with a shocked expression.

"I just asked if she trusted me. See, I told you guys, she's not ruthless." Clarke says with a grin as she gives Lexa a quick peck on the cheek. "Now let's go eat because I'm starving." Clarke says as she walks out of the training room, leaving everyone stunned, and Lexa with a grin plastered on her face.


	8. When She's the Exception

"You're staring."

Lexa jumped as Anya and Lincoln sat beside her with a smug grins.

"Jesus guys, don't do that!" Lexa said, with a scowl.

Anya chuckled and shook her head. "It's not our fault you were too distracted to see us coming. You've been staring ever since we left Lincoln's place."

"Not very subtle, Commander." Lincoln added with a grin.

"Can you blame me?! Fucking look at her!" Lexa turned her attention back to the blonde that had been holding her attention for the past hour. After leaving the gym, the six of them headed to Lincoln's place to change into their bathing suits and then headed to the beach. When Clarke stepped out of the guest room wearing her white and blue bikini, Lexa had literally gone into a coughing fit. Now Clarke was playing and running along the beach with Raven and Octavia and Lexa still hadn't been able to look away.

"Look how the sun makes her hair glow. How it blows in the wind. Look how identical her eyes are to the water. How they glisten. Does she even know how gorgeous she is? I mean, honestly, look at her smile. Listen to her laugh. Her laugh. My God you guys, I've heard some of the best orchestras in the world play, but I swear to you, they don't compare to Clarke Griffin's laugh."

There was a beat of silence before Anya nudged Lexa.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Anya asked with a serious tone.

"Nothing." Lexa said without taking her eyes off of Clarke.

Anya sighed and rolled her eyes, as did Lincoln.

"Lex, come on. You know you like her, we know you like her...what's the problem?" Lincoln asked.

Lexa's jaw clenched but she remained silent.

"Dude, you gotta get over Costia." Anya said bluntly.

Lexa snapped her head to look at Anya, her glare almost deadly.

"Anya..." Lincoln said warningly.

However Anya wasn't phased.

"No Linc, you know I'm right! Look Lex, I'm telling you this because I love you...Get. Over. Her. She left. Big deal. We all get left sometimes. Relationships end. Yes I know it broke your heart but come on! We've let you bury yourself in work and ignore feelings and shit for what seems like an eternity. And we haven't tried to push you too far because you haven't really shown interest in anyone. But now? Lexa, do you hear the way you talk about Clarke? I mean...shit Lex, you look like the heart eyes emoji every time you see the girl. Look I'm not saying it'll be perfect. I'm not gonna say that at all. I'm not saying that the two of you will fall in love and get married and live happily ever after, because what the fuck do I know? But what if I'm right? What if she's the one that you end up falling in love with? What if she's the one who stays? What if she's the one you end up marrying? Who knows?"

"Though I wouldn't have phrased so roughly, I agree." Lincoln added. "I mean, who's to say me and Tavia won't break up tomorrow? But I wouldn't regret being in a relationship with her. Look Lex, we know you don't "do feelings" but it's time to give it another shot. Anya's right about the way you look at Clarke. There's something there."

Lexa sighed. She knew they were right but to be perfectly honest, she was afraid. Because what if...

"What if it doesn't last? What if I get heartbroken again?" Lexa asked in a small whisper.

"But what if it does last? Life is full of what ifs. No one knows what's going to happen. But you've got us fucked up if you think we're gonna sit back and watch you pass up something that could make you happy." Anya said with a determined look in her eyes.

Lincoln nudged Lexa and smirked. "Either you do this by yourself, or we'll meddle. And you know we won't quit."

Lexa chuckled and shook her head.

"I have a feeling you two will meddle anyway."

"Ah, you know us too well. Now let's go get your girl." Anya said as she stood up and slapped Lexa on the back.

Lexa rolled her eyes as she stood up. "She's not my girl."

" _Yet._ " Anya added.

Clarke, Raven, and Octavia were in the middle of taking a selfie when they heard a throat cleared behind them.

"Ya know that picture would look a thousand times better if we were in it." Anya said with a smirk.

The three girls turned around to see Anya, Lincoln, and Lexa standing there.

Raven raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Is that what you think?"

"You know it's the truth. Anyway, do you two want to go play volleyball while Clarke and Lexa go on their date?" Anya said, looking at Raven and Octavia.

"Date?! What the fuck Clarke?! Why didn't you tell us?!" Raven said as she shoved Clarke's shoulder.

"It's not a date." Lexa said before Clarke could respond. "I just promised I'd take Clarke to get some frozen yogurt. I mean, if you still want to go." Lexa said, directing the last part to Clarke.

Clarke smiled and nodded. "I thought you'd forgotten. Of course I still want to go."

"Of course I didn't forget. You're not easy to forget Clarke Griffin." Lexa said with a smirk.

Clarke averted her gaze, trying to push down the blush that was creeping up her face. She cleared her throat and looked back at Lexa with a small smile. "Ready to go?" she asked.

Lexa nodded her head. "Definitely." She said, leading Clarke to the frozen yogurt shop down the beach.

"Not a date my ass." Octavia mumbled, receiving a chuckle from the rest of the group.

* * *

The walk to the yogurt place, "BerryYummy", was filled with a comfortable silence. Both looking around taking in their surroundings and enjoying the comfortable weather. They were now standing in front of the choices of yogurt, Lexa amused and Clarke slightly annoyed.

"It's like they try to force healthy stuff down your throat. Honestly Lexa, it's not funny."

Lexa chuckled and filled the sample cup with the Green Tea flavor that Clarke was currently protesting. "You haven't even tasted it Clarke. It's really good."

Clarke shook her head eyeing the frozen treat. "Fine, I'll sample it, but I'm almost positive it'll suck."

She took the small sample from the brunette and took a taste. Her eyes immediately rolled to the back of her head.

"Shit this is good." She mumbled to herself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Lexa asked with a smug grin.

Clarke rolled her eyes and smiled. "I said it's good! There's no need to say, "I told you so". I admit that it's good." Clarke said, sticking her tongue out in a childish manner.

Lexa chuckled and shook her head. "I was actually going to say thank you."

Clarke's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "For what?"

"For trying something different for me, and for coming along with me in the first place." Lexa said as they headed to the toppings bar.

Clarke nudged Lexa's arm, catching the brunette's eyes. "Don't mention it. I enjoy being with you." She said with a small smile.

Lexa returned the smile before turning to put the toppings on her watermelon froyo. She topped it with the classic combination of cheesecake bites, strawberries, and a few cherries. When she was done, she turned to Clarke and what she saw made her jaw drop.

"Clarke...what are you doing?" Lexa asked in a shocked tone. Clarke was currently covering her Green Tea frozen yogurt with a tower of gummy worms, Oreo crumbs, sour patch kids, and hot fudge.

Clarke topped the concoction off with a cherry, and turned to look at Lexa. Her gaze went down to Lexa's simple fruit toppings and she rolled her eyes. "No Lexa, the real question is, what are YOU doing?"

Lexa looked down at her dessert and frowned. "This is going to be good, Clarke. I hardly believe that that concoction that you have created is going to be any good."

Clarke raised a challenging eyebrow and smirked. "Okay then, how about we trade? I'll eat yours if you eat mine." Clarke's smirk grew at the innuendo.

Lexa smirked, stepping close to Clarke and taking the container out of the blonde's hand. "I'd love to eat yours, Clarke. Why don't you go find us a table while I pay for this?"

Clarke swallowed at Lexa's innuendo and nodded. "Okay."

As Lexa walked away, Clarke closed her eyes attempting to slow her heartbeat down. _Damn that girl will be the death of me. But what a way to go._ She took a deep breath and looked around for a place to sit. She took a seat at a circular table with bright pink chairs that was near one of the windows. Through the window, she watched as a family attempted to build a sandcastle. She laughed to herself when the youngest boy, maybe about 4 years old, fell on top of the castle, causing the rest of the family to laugh.

"I never could build a sandcastle."

Clarke looked up to see Lexa sitting across from her and looking out of the window with a small smile on her face.

"Well maybe I could show you how to." Clarke offered with a smile.

Lexa turned to look at the blonde and nodded her head. "I'd like that very much Clarke."

Clarke picked up her spoon and tapped Lexa's container. "Now let's see you taste this, Commander."

Lexa looked down at the monstrosity Clarke had made and rolled her eyes. "Fine, but this better not give me a heart attack."

Clarke giggled and shook her head. "That's not how the body works, Lexa."

Lexa huffed as she picked up her spoon and dug in. She looked at the spoon filled with green tea froyo, oreo crumbs, hot fudge, and a red sour patch kid. She closed her eyes and put it in her mouth. Her eyes instantly shot open as the flavors took over her mouth. Every flavor was so bold, demanding to be tasted, but not too dominant. The sweet outweighed the sour. It was a perfect mix.

"Well...how is it?" Clarke asked, not being able to read Lexa's expression.

"It's...actually pretty good." Lexa said with an indifferent shrug.

Clarke smiled knowingly. "You're downplaying it aren't you?"

Lexa rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, it's delicious. Fantastic actually."

Clarke laughed and reached over to taste it, but Lexa pulled the container out of the blonde's reach.

"Nope. Not until you taste the one I made." Lexa said with a teasing grin.

Clarke looked down at the treat covered in fruit and groaned. "Oh Lexa come on! This is covered in fruit! I thought you said you at least get gummy bears. This is just strawberries and cherries."

Lexa chuckled and shook her head. "There are cheesecake bites on there, Clarke! And I don't always get gummy bears."

"Lexa...there are literally seven cheesecake bites here. Seven. I shouldn't be able to count them. But fine, I'll taste it." Clarke picked up her spoon and plunged it into the container. When she tasted it, she immediately understood why Lexa made it the way she did.

"It blends perfectly doesn't it? With the watermelon? It's pretty good huh?" Lexa asked with a grin.

Clarke nodded as she took several more bites. "And the cheesecake bites...it's kind of like a little surprise every time you get one." she added.

Lexa smiled as she continued eating her treat as well. "Exactly. That's why I don't put too many of them in there. The surprise is nice."

They say in silence for a while. Both enjoying their frozen treats and eating out of the others.

"So, you owe me an explanation."

Lexa looked up at Clarke's words and tilted her head in question.

"Tattoos."

Lexa's eyes widened in realization.

"Ah, yes okay. So, when I was about 6 years old, I had this dream that I was the Commander of 12 clans in a post-apocalyptic world, and Anya was my second and Lincoln was one of the great warriors."

"So that's where the Commander nickname comes from?" Clarke asks, already completely intrigued.

Lexa nodded. "Exactly. And you know at 6 years old, that's like the coolest thing ever, so the next day I told Anya and Lincoln about it and we started coming up with names for the different clans and backstories. It was such a serious thing to us Clarke, we even made up our own language, I kid you not. I would have different dreams about this imaginary place and I'd always tell them about it. But then, of course we started growing up and the older I got the fewer dreams I had. We didn't necessarily forget about it, it was just kind of put on the back burner of our minds."

Clarke nodded, telling Lexa to keep going.

"So, years later, I was in high school, I had this dream about this sky princess that lived among the stars, but one day she and everyone else that lived in the sky, fell from the sky and they were forced to live on Earth. On the ground, there were already people living there so the sky people referred to them as Grounders. And the grounders and sky people didn't get along at all and they were attempting to kill each other. So eventually the Sky Princess decided she needed to meet with the leader of the Grounders, which ended up being-"

"You. The Commander." Clarke said with a smile.

Lexa smiled and nodded again. "You catch on fast. So the Commander and the Sky Princess met to talk things out and create peace, which was the start of them falling in love with each other."

Lexa turned around in her chair so that Clarke could see her back tattoo.

"So this tattoo is a representation of that. It represents the Sky Princess falling to the ground." Lexa turned back around to look the blonde in the eyes. "The Commander and the Sky Princess. It represents that no matter how far away they may be, there's someone made for you."

Clarke blinked, once again taken aback by Lexa's words.

"Just because I don't do feelings or really believe in love anymore, doesn't mean I didn't at one point, Clarke." Lexa said, reading the blonde's facial expression.

Clarke wanted to ask so many questions, the main one being what made Lexa give up on love, but she knew it wasn't her place to ask. At least not now. So instead she just nodded in understanding. "So when did you get it?"

"Well I got the one on my back and neck when I was seventeen. I got the ones on my arms when I was eighteen." Lexa said.

"Well I know what the one on you neck means. And now your back. So what about the ones on your arms? Any meaning?"

Lexa shook her head and smiled. "No actually. In the dream I had, the Commander, me, had these tattoos on her arms. So...it only seemed fitting."

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "So you drew it from memory? Or...I mean how did you remember what it looked like?"

"I couldn't forget that dream if I tried, Clarke. I had several more dreams just like it. It was so real. As if I was really there. I remember every detail of it. But yes, I sketched it from memory and I designed the one on my back as well."

Clarke tilted her head as she looked at the woman sitting in front of her. "I want to ask you something, but I don't want to overstep." Clarke said hesitantly.

Lexa put her hand over Clarke's, which was resting on the table, giving it a light, encouraging squeeze. "Go ahead and ask."

Clarke let out a breath and met Lexa's eyes. "Do you ever regret it? I mean the tattoos. It's obvious that you got them because they gave you hope. Hope that you would find your Sky Princess one day. Hope that there was someone out there made for you. And I don't know what happened that made you lose hope, and not believe in love but...but do you ever look at your tattoos now and think of them as stupid or think of them as a regret?"

Lexa looked at Clarke for a long while. At one point she was surprised that Clarke was so intuitive, but at the same time she wasn't surprised at all. Clarke had a way of reading her like a book. Lexa took a deep breath before answering.

"I...no. I don't regret them Clarke. Because at one point it was something I really wanted and truly believed in, so how could I regret that? Regretting my tattoos would mean regretting my dream. Regretting the Commander. Regretting the Sky Princess. I could never regret that. I can't regret the thing that gave me hope and got me through tough times. But most importantly, I don't regret it because…well be-"

"Because there's a little part of you that still hopes." Clarke finished in a whisper.

Lexa nodded.

"Because there's a little part of me that still hopes. Because even after everything that made me give up on love, there's still a little piece of me that can't give up." Lexa said quietly.

"Well, someone once told me that we're all fighting something. Or against something. Or for something. You should fight for the little piece of hope." Clarke said with a small smile, as she looked at the brunette.

Lexa returned the smile as she looked down at their hands that were now linked together. "I am, Clarke, I am."

They say there for a moment just looking at each other. Both comfortable in each other's presence. Neither of them noticing their friends approaching them.

"Well if this isn't the cutest shit I've ever seen in my life!" Raven shrieked.

Lexa and Clarke jumped back, both of their faces covered in deep blushes.

"Yeah, if this isn't a date, then I don't know what is." Lincoln added with a smirk.

Clarke rolled her eyes at her friends' smug faces. "You guys just have to ruin the moment don't you?"

"Ohhh, so there was a moment to ruin? Were you two about to kiss? Because we can leave if you want." Anya said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh hell no! If they kiss I wanna be here to see it!" Octavia said, giving Raven a high-five.

Lexa glared at group standing in front of her. "Did you all just come in here to bother us?"

"Actually we were wondering if you guys were ready to go. We have a reservation for dinner at 6pm, which leaves us about 4 hours to get back to Lincoln's and shower and get ready and such." Anya said.

"Are you ready to go, Clarke?" Lexa asked as she turned to look at the blonde.

Clarke nodded. "Just let us throw away this trash and we'll meet you outside." She said looking at their group of friends.

Clarke turned her attention back to Lexa. "I'm sorry."

Lexa's forehead wrinkled with confusion. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

Clarke motioned for Lexa to follow her to the trashcan.

"I said I would teach you how to build a sandcastle and now I won't be able to." Clarke said with a disappointed tone.

Lexa took Clarke's hand and run the back of it with her thumb. "Hey, that just means that we can do it next time. That means we have another reason to go out together again." Lexa said with a grin.

A wide smile spread over Clarke's face as she took in Lexa's words. "Next time? You want there to be a next time?"

"Of course I want there to be a next time, Clarke. I had fun with you today." Lexa said as she held the door open for Clarke.

Clarke linked her arm with Lexa's as the door closed behind them.

"I had fun with you too, Lex. I can't wait until next time." Clarke said with a smile as she rested her head on Lexa's shoulder.

* * *

Clarke looked out the window of the airplane, taking in the darkness of the outside. The small light above her was on, but other than that, it was dark. Everyone else on the plane was either asleep or watching a movie. After they left the beach, showered, and changed into their formal attire, the group headed to their reservation at a fancy restaurant called, Moonlight. The restaurant was quiet and peaceful and was broken off into secluded areas. Each area was accompanied by a pianist, cellist, and violinist playing soft music.

Every room was a planetarium and in the center of the table sat a remote control that controlled the stars and skies displayed above the heads of its guests. Clarke, Octavia, and Raven were blown away by not only the setting but also by how comfortable the other three seemed to be. Also the food. The food was what one would call "immaculate", or if you're Raven you say that it's "damn good" and "better than sex". They were served lobster and oysters and salmon and at one point Clarke literally couldn't eat anymore. That is until they brought out a dessert that Clarke couldn't pronounce if she tried. Her stomach kept telling her no...but her heart...her heart told her yes, and she must admit that her heart made a good decision.

After leaving the restaurant, the gang headed back to Lincoln's to change, pack up their luggage, and head back home. Clarke looked down at her watch and sighed when it read 10:04pm. It felt so late but it was probably because they had had a full day.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Clarke smiled as Lexa sat down next to her.

"I'm just thinking about how today has been such a long day. A great day, but a long one nevertheless. Are your days always like this?"

Lexa shook her head and chuckled. "Not at all, Clarke. My days are usually pretty uneventful and boring."

"I find it hard to believe that a day with you could be boring or uneventful. On a scale of one to ten, how much did you enjoy today?" Clarke asked with a tilt of her head.

"Eleven." Lexa stated simply.

Clarke smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Eleven huh? You must have really liked that froyo."

Lexa grinned and looked at the blonde. "While I did enjoy your unhealthy concoction, being with you is what made it great. Being able to go through today and knowing you were there...that made the day perfect."

Clarke could feel the heat rising up in her face, so she cleared her throat and turned her head to try to play it off. However, Lexa noticed.

"I apologize if that made you uncomfortable or anything I just-"

Clarke's head snapped up and she looked at the brunette with wide eyes. "No no no, Lexa, you didn't make me uncomfortable...the complete opposite actually."

Lexa tilted her head in question, causing Clarke to continue explaining.

"I'm going to be completely blunt and honest with you, okay? You make me feel safe and okay and when I'm with you I don't think about what's going on with me. When I'm with you, the only thing I think about is how I'm going to be okay. I really like you, which I know I probably shouldn't because I know you don't do feelings and stuff, but that's just how I feel."

Lexa took Clarke's hand and rubbed circles in her palm, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Clarke...You're right, I don't do feelings. I don't like people easily or trust easily. I don't fantasize about waking up next to anyone everyday for the rest of my life. I do my own thing, and I worry about myself, Lincoln, and Anya. The only thing I think about is work. I stay busy so I don't have to acknowledge anything else I may be feeling. So you're right. I don't do feelings, but you're the exception, Clarke. When it comes to you, I do feelings. When it comes to you, I trust easily. When it comes to you, work is the farthest thing from my mind. When it comes to you...I have no choice but to feel things, and I like the things that I feel when it comes to you."

Clarke bit back a grin at Lexa's words. The blonde nodded and let her grin go. "I like the things I feel when I comes to you too." Clarke took notice of the earphone in Lexa's ear and raised an eyebrow. "So what are you listening to?"

Lexa took out her phone to show the blonde the song that was playing.

"I did not peg you for the Nick Jonas fan. I don't think I've heard that song before though."

"I wouldn't call myself a "fan", but I do like some of his songs. This is one of my favorites actually." Lexa said.

"Well it's on your most played list, so I figure you've probably had it on repeat. Am I right?" Clarke asks with a knowing look.

Lexa nodded.

"So do you mind if I listen to this amazing song with you? Or is it a personal thing? Which I mean, if it is, I totally get it."

Lexa chuckled and shook her head. "I mean, it is personal but I'd love for you to listen to it with me."

Lexa shifted in her seat and leaned towards Clarke, handing the blonde the other earphone and restarting the song.

When the music started, Clarke closed her eyes and concentrated. If this song was personal to Lexa she wanted to give it her full attention. She wanted to understand it, but most importantly, she wanted to understand a part of Lexa.

_Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn_

_I'm so perplexed_

_With just one breath, I'm locked in_

_Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn_

_I'm so perplexed_

_On that, it's almost shocking_

_I know, I know you know you're scared_

_Your heart, your mind, your soul, your body_

_They won't, they won't, they won't be careful_

_But I guess that you don't know me_

_Cause if I want you, and I want you, babe_

_Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space_

_Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too..._

_Close, ooh_

_Oh, so close, ooh_

_I want you close, ooh_

_Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get close, ooh_

At the chorus Clarke looks up to see Lexa staring at her intently. She knows she should probably look away, but she doesn't, she can't. She's lost in green eyes and she's not interested in looking away.

When the song finally ends, the two just sit there looking at each other. Both are too caught up in the other to say anything, so when the song starts playing again, they just let it. Neither move to pause the song or to say anything, they sit and look at each other.

When the song ends the second time, Lexa stops the song before it can start up again.

"So what do you think? Do you like the song?" she asks.

Clarke nods, glancing down at the brunette's lips. "I love the song actually. The part where it's like, "Space is just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too close" is my favorite part. I've never thought about space like that before but I like this outlook on it."

Lexa nods. "I agree."

"I'm guessing you like your space? That's why the song is personal to you?" Clarke asked.

"Well, I do like my space. I'm not exactly afraid to get too close to people, I just would rather not." Lexa nudges Clarke and looks the blonde in the eyes. "But it's personal because these lyrics are how I feel about you. Like I said, you're the exception."


	9. When She's Miles Away

**Thursday Evening**

Raven opened the door to see Anya and Lincoln holding boxes of pizza.

"Wow, just couldn't stay away huh? I mean, we just got back last night and you still can't get enough of this?" She said, gesturing to herself.

Anya rolled her eyes at her girlfriend and pushed past the brunette who was standing in the doorway.

"Don't act like you're not happy to see me." Anya said as she sat the pizza down on the table.

"Yasssss finally! I'm happy to see you!" Clarke said as she got up off of the couch and immediately went for the pizza. "God I love you." She murmured to the slice of pizza that was in her hand.

"Talk about a starving artist." Lincoln said with a snort. "Where's Tavia?"

"She's right here, babe." Octavia said, coming out of her room and giving her boyfriend a kiss.

"Wherrs Lexfa?" Clarke asked, mouth full of food.

Anya shrugged. "I don't know. She left."

"Left? What do you mean she left? Another business meeting?" Clarke asked, finally swallowing her food.

Lincoln shook his head as he took a seat at the table. "Nah, not a business meeting. She went somewhere. We don't know where though. Took a trip."

"I take it from your nonchalance, that this is a common occurrence?" Raven offered.

Anya nodded, but frowned shortly after. "Well, I wouldn't say it was a common thing that happens. But it does happen every now and then."

The three girls looked at Anya expectantly, causing the girl to roll her eyes and continue. "Look, it's not a big deal. Sometimes when Lexa is feeling a certain way, she leaves. Sometimes it's during the day, at night, in the morning, during a movie. We'll find a note somewhere or we'll get a text and it'll say something like, 'angry; I'll be back' or 'I need time; I'm okay'. The note gives us a general sense of where she is emotionally and why she left."

Octavia nodded slowly. "So she just takes some time to herself. That's understandable. Does she go to the same place every time?"

Lincoln shook his head with a smile. "No, she goes somewhere different every time. She always brings back some kind of souvenir or gift though. Last she was gone for three days and she went to Moscow and brought us back these cool ass bracelets."

"Okay, but remember that time she was gone for five days and all she came back with were those 'Welcome to Branson, Missouri' keychains? I was so upset." Anya scoffed.

Raven and Octavia chuckled. "So what did she leave on the note this time?" Raven asked, noticing how quiet Clarke was.

Anya pulled a sticky note out of her back pocket and laid it on the table. The three girls leaned in to read what it said.

_**I just need to think** _

_**P.S. Anya clean out the fucking refrigerator, it's your turn** _

Clarke sat back and look at them with narrowed eyes. "And you're not worried about her? At all?"

Both Anya and Lincoln shook their heads. "The longest she's been gone is 6 days. And after the 3rd day she always calls or texts. So no I'm not worried." Lincoln said with a shrug.

Raven clapped her hands together. "Well, if you guys aren't worried then neither am I." Octavia nodded in agreement, as did Clarke.

_She'll be back in a few days. No need to worry._

* * *

**Monday Afternoon**

"I'm not sure why I'm here." Clarke said, looking around the room. She was surrounded burgundy walls with pictures of flowers and different sceneries. It was calming. There was a record player in the far left corner of the room that was set up next to a bookcase full of records and books. There was a grand piano that sat next to the bookcase, which made the room look a tad smaller, but it was nice. She turned her head focus back to the woman in front of her. Indra, as she had introduced herself, had beautiful, dark brown skin, and short black hair. She gave off a "don't fuck with me" vibe. Clarke sighed.

"Okay, so that's not 100% true. I mean, know why I'm here, I set up the appointment a few days ago...I just don't know _why_ I'm here...does that make sense?" Clarke shifted uncomfortably under the woman's intense gaze. Clarke had decided to take a stab at therapy and made an appointment for a short session the day before they had gone to Miami. She hadn't told Octavia or Raven about today's therapy session though. She figured if she liked it then she would tell them about it, but if it was just gonna be a one-time thing then there was no point in mentioning it.

"It makes sense." Indra finally said, pulling Clarke out of her thoughts. "You're here because you want help and someone to talk to. However, you feel like there may not be a point to being here. As if you may be wasting your time."

Clarke nodded.

"A lot of people feel that way about going to therapy. It's very common. But I encourage you to give it a go. Give me a shot. I promise you that I'll give you my all and do my best to help you."

Clarke smiled warmly, finally relaxing a little bit. "Thanks for understanding. I needed that reassurance. So what now? Gonna show me some ink blotches and ask me what I see?" Clarke joked.

Indra chuckled and shook her head. "Not unless you really want me to. I think we can start by getting to know each other a little better. I'll start us off. I am married. I have a 5 children, three girls and two boys. Not only do I have a degree in counseling, but I have a law degree as well. When I'm not being a therapist, I'm helping my husband run our firm in D.C. In my spare time, I like to do martial arts, cook, and spend time with my kids."

"What's your favorite thing to cook?"

Indra tilted her head in thought. "Hm, well my family likes it when I make chili, but my favorite thing to make is Oreo cheesecake. Although it doesn't actually require cooking. So what about you, Clarke?"

"Oh yeah, I love cheesecake. All kinds." Clarke shrugged, attempting to avoid talking about herself.

Indra raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Clarke sighed and repressed an eye roll. _I guess there's no getting out of this._ "Fine. I'm an only child…sort of. I have half of a medical degree and an art degree. Am I a starving artist? Well, I'm always hungry so take that as you may. I just had my art featured at the Artkadia Gallery. Pretty good turnout I guess. I live with my two best friends and they've been in my life ever since we were like 6 years old. In my spare time I like to sleep and spend my time on Netflix. I'm gonna be honest though, I have a lot of spare time. I probably need to get a hobby…or another job."

Indra chuckled. "You said you're "sort of" the other child, care to elaborate?"

"Well, my two best friends have always been considered as a part of my family. My parents always considered them as their daughters too, and I consider them my sisters. The three of us make a good little family unit."

Indra nodded in understanding. "Well that sounds like a lovely family."

"Yeah, they're the best." Clarke answered solemnly.

"You know Clarke, for someone who's talking about the best people in her life, you don't look that happy."

Clarke sighed. "Yeah well, I feel a little guilty being here. I kind of lied to them about where I was going today. They don't know I'm here."

Indra hummed. "Do you think they won't be supportive of your choice to go to therapy?"

Clarke quickly shook her head. "No no no, it's not that. They would totally support me. They would be encouraging and they'd be super happy for me. I just…I don't know why I didn't tell them." _Lie._

"Clarke, this is never going to work if you're not 100% honest with me. Remember that I'm not here to judge you."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I just…my dad died and then I stopped talking to my mom and to top it all off I found out that my girlfriend was cheating on me. And Rae and O have been super supportive, I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I guess…I thought that if I told them that I was coming here that they'd make a big deal out of it, and I just didn't want to make it a big until I knew it was going to work out."

Indra nodded as she finished writing something in her journal. "That's perfectly understandable, Clarke. But if lying to them is going to make you feel guilty, then how about you try to find another way to go about it. You can still be honest with them and not reveal anything."

"So what am I supposed to say? "Hey guys, I'm doing something but I don't want to tell you what it is yet, but I also don't want to lie to you. I'll tell you when I'm ready. Fuck off." I mean…I don't think that would work."

"Well, I wouldn't say it so harshly but yes, that's exactly what you should tell them. If you all are really as close as you say you are, then they will understand. They'll give you your space and tell you to take your time. Like you said, they're your family and they have been nothing but supportive of you."

Clarke nodded. "Hmph, makes a lot of sense when you put it like that. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this before but you're pretty good at your job."

Indra chuckled and shook her head. "Well thank you for the compliment. I try my best."

"So I know you're just itching to ask me about the stuff I said earlier. What do you want to talk about first? The dead dad thing, the cheating girlfriend thing, or the mom thing?"

"Are you aware that you use humor in attempt to cope with things that makes you uncomfortable?"

Clarke shrugged as she laid back on the couch. "Oh boy, I am amazingly aware. I think it's something I've always done, ya know? My dad would always try to make me laugh when I was in a bad mood or when I wasn't feeling too well, so it kind of became a coping mechanism for me I guess. Finding something to laugh about in a terrible situation. If you make light of a situation then it can't really hurt you as much."

"And does that always work for you?"

Clarke was silent for a moment. "Less and less. If anything, I just use humor to press down my emotions when I don't want to deal with them. It's gotten worse ever since my life turned into its only natural disaster."

"Is there any other way that you deal with your emotions? Other than using humor, I mean."

"Art. That's my refuge. My saving grace. Art doesn't judge me. It allows me to be free. It allows me to pour out my emotions and it asks for nothing in return."

"I would like to challenge you to do something, Clarke. Every single time you feel the need to push down your emotions in any way, even if its humor, I want you to turn to art. I want you to draw something, paint something, think of a piece that centers you. Paint what you feel and don't hold back when your emotions take control." Indra instructed.

Clarke sat up and sighed. "An assignment? I never was really good in school. Is there any extra credit?"

Indra raised her eyebrow at the blonde.

"Right, sorry. The jokes just kind of flow. Habit I guess. But do you really think this is going to stop me from using humor to cope?"

Indra shook her head as she stood up. "The purpose of this assignment is not for you to stop using humor to cope. The purpose is for you to see how much you push down your emotions. How many drawings will you have by the end of this? How many paintings? How much will you have to doodle? The purpose of this assignment is not only to make you more self-aware of your emotions, but also to make you aware of how often you avoid and push down these emotions."

Clarke nodded slowly, taking in the concept. "Okay, that makes sense. So how long am I supposed to do this?"

"Two weeks."

"Two weeks? Aren't therapy sessions supposed to be like, every week or something?" Clarke asked as she stood up.

Indra smiled as she and Clarke started walking to the door. "Usually? Yes. However, this time we're going to do it a little differently. Set an appointment with my assistant for two weeks from today. We'll meet every week after that, but these two weeks will be important for the assignment."

Clarke smiled. "Okay then, you're the boss. I'll see you in two weeks." Clarke begin to walk down the hallway before she stopped and turned towards the woman again. "Oh, and Indra?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"For what exactly?" Indra asked, confusion taking over her face.

"For being patient with me. I know this was just a short sessions, but was really nervous about this whole therapy thing, but now? Now, I'm looking forward to our next session."

"Well, thank you for giving me a chance, Clarke."

* * *

**2 Weeks later**

They rolled their eyes as they heard loud music start to play throughout the apartment.

"Raven, it's your turn." Octavia said as she continued concentrating on the game of Mario kart that she was currently losing at.

Raven shook her head, not taking her eyes off of the game. "Nope. It's Anya's turn. I went yesterday."

Anya snorted, glancing away from the game to look at her girlfriend. "I think the fuck not. The last time I went in there she ruined my favorite shirt with paint. Never again."

"Well to be fair, you did try to pry the paintbrush from her hands. Not the smartest move, An." Lincoln added.

"Look, maybe she just needs some time. I mean, she did tell us to leave her alone. Just...give her a few days to be upset without us going in there every few minutes. She'll come around." Anya said.

"Yeah...okay. I'll give her a few more days to sulk. Then I'm barging in there like the Hulk." Octavia said.

"Agreed. So have you guys heard from Lexa yet?" Raven asked.

"Nope."

"No."

Octavia paused the game gaining protests from everyone. "You guys aren't worried? Like at all? I mean even I'm starting to get a little worried. You said she's never been gone longer than like...6 days. Well it's officially been like 15 days."

Anya rolled her eyes. "Okay Clarke Jr. Look we're not worried about Lex because we know she can handle herself. She has more than enough resources, connections, and skills to be okay. She's fine."

Raven looked between her girlfriend and Lincoln. She noticed the look of doubt on Lincoln's face and her eyes widened as she saw the small bit of worry on her girlfriend's face. "Oh my gosh, you guys are totally worried about her!"

Anya huffed. "Okay yes. Maybe a little bit. BUT that's only because we just miss her."

"Lincoln?" Octavia looked at her boyfriend for confirmation.

Lincoln's shoulders slouched. "She's fine, you guys. We just...wish she would call or something."

Raven nodded. "Have you guys tried to look for her at all?"

Anya and Lincoln chuckled, causing the two other girls to frown.

"Rae, if Lexa doesn't want to be found, you'll never find her. I promise you that. We just have to wait." Lincoln said with a shrug.

* * *

 

**Later the same day**

"By your appearance, I'll make the educated guess that you've been painting?"

Clarke nodded as she sat down on the sofa. "Ever since I left your office two weeks ago, I've been painting nonstop. My art room is a mess, as well as my wardrobe." Clarke said, gesturing at her jeans that were covered in paint.

Indra nodded. "And how has this assignment been working out for you?"

Clarke shrugged. "I mean, I like it. It really puts things in prospective, so to speak. I've noticed a lot of patterns in the things I've been drawing and painting and it is… eye opening to say the least. Also the amount of paintings and drawings that I have now, go to show exactly how often I push down my emotions and it's a little…unsettling to be perfectly honest with you."

"If you had to guess, how many paintings and drawings would you say you've done in these past two weeks? Just an estimate."

"218. That's the exact number. I've kept count. More than you were expecting, yeah? Well same here. One of my walls is filled with tally marks."

"Well, I must admit that you exceeded my expectations. I'm glad that you took the assignment seriously. You mentioned that you've noticed patterns in your artwork. What are some of these patterns that you've noticed?"

"Well…a good third of them are pictures of my dad or something that relates to my dad. Which….yeah I expected that because I miss him. Some of them are of my mom. They're just sketches of how I see her, I guess. Variations of how she's looked at me throughout the years. And then the rest are um, of a friend of mine."

Indra nodded as she finished jotting down some notes. "This friend of yours, they must be important to you."

"That a question or a statement?"

"Both."

Clarke was silent for a while. One thing she liked about Indra is that she never pushed Clarke to talk. Clarke let out a long sigh. "How do you get rid of worry?"

"I'm not sure it is something that you can get rid of fully. Worry is something that will always come up, but there are ways to ease it."

"I hate it. Being worried, I mean. I'm always on edge. I even tried meditating. It was the worse 3 minutes of my life."

Indra chuckled. "Yes it is a rather annoying feeling. May I ask why you're worried?"

"My friend um…let's call her Lucy, has been gone for a while and I'm worried about her. Her family isn't worried because they say that sometimes she takes time for herself for a few days. But…it's been like almost 3 weeks since she's been gone and I'm drowning in worry." Clarke sighed as she rested her head in her hands.

"You have feelings for her, yes?"

Clarke nodded, looking up at Indra. "We met the first week of May, which I know isn't a long time to have known each other. However, I like her…a lot."

"Are you worried about her well-being? Or worried that she doesn't return your feelings?" Indra asked.

"Both. I'm also worried that she left because she admitted her feelings for me, but didn't really mean it."

"Hm." Indra wrote down a few notes. "Well, I'm going to give you another assignment to go along with the one you're already doing. How do you feel about that?

Clarke shrugged. "I'm sure I can handle it. I trust you."

"I want you to write a letter to 'Lucy' every day until she comes back. You don't have to give them to her, but I feel as though it would help clear your thoughts. Say the things that you wouldn't say to her and the things that you would. That way when she comes back, you'll have an idea of what you want to say to her. There's a deeper lining to your worry."

"I've heard of that method before. I always thought it was an interesting concept. So you're saying that this will open me up more, emotionally?"

Indra nodded. "You'll find yourself feeling a lot of different emotions at one time. It'll be slightly overwhelming, but that's why I wanted you to keep up the other assignment."

"So is this gonna be another two week thing or?"

Indra picked up a planner that was sitting on her desk and began looking in it. "Hmmm. I want you to come back the day after Lucy shows back up. If it takes longer than three weeks, then I want you to come back on the 4th week."

Clarke looked at Indra suspiciously. "I feel like you're just trying to make me drown in my feelings."

Indra smiled in amusement. "Like you said Clarke, I'm good at my job. Trust me."

* * *

 

**2 Weeks and a day Later**

Raven and Octavia watched as Clarke threw paint on a canvas angrily. The music she had playing was so loud that they were surprised they hadn't gotten any complaints from their neighbors yet.

Finally Raven walked over and turned off the music, causing the blonde to glare at her.

"What the fuck Rae?! Turn that back on!" Clarke yelled as she glared at the Latina.

Raven shook her head. "No cupcake. You've been in here for weeks, throwing paint everywhere and listening to shitty music. We're putting an end to it."

Clarke shook her head and got up to turn the music back on, but was stopped by Octavia pushing her back down on the stool. "Ah ah ah kitten. You're not going anywhere. We've let you sulk for long enough, now it's time to talk. What's wrong?"

Clarke tilted her head back as she let out an exasperated sigh. "Nothing's the matter. Everything is fine. Peachy even! I'm not mad or sad or angry or anything. I'm great!"

Raven and Octavia looked at her with unconvinced faces.

"It's Lexa, isn't it?" Octavia offered.

Clarke automatically jumped up from her stool and pointed at the girls.

"What?! That's crazy! Wh-why would I be mad at Lexa? Why would I be angry? Because she hasn't called in the past month? Because she left and no one knows where she is?! No why would I be mad?! We aren't even a thing! I have no right to be mad at the fact that she hasn't even thought to text or call me!"

"So it's definitely Lexa." Raven whispered to Octavia as Clarke continued to yell.

"I'm not mad, I'm fine! She told me that I'm the exception and she basically told me she likes me and wants to be close to me, and then she left for who knows how long, without telling me! That doesn't bother me at all! My feelings are not confused or mixed up at all! I'm not worried about her safety at all! She's probably forgotten about me anyway! She's probably found a new girlfriend! They're probably planning their wedding, that's why she hasn't called me! But it doesn't even matter because I don't love these hoes! I haven't even thought about her or her gorgeous, flawless face and her green eyes that I think are now my favorite color. I haven't thought about her tattoos and her voice or her smile or her laugh or her hair. I don't love these hoes!"

"Are you done?" Octavia asked with an amused face.

Clarke turned her head to glare at her friend. "You know what? No, I'm not done! Who the hell does she think she is?! Coming in my life trying to figure me out and knowing all my feelings without my permission?! Who gave her the right?! And then she just up and leaves?! Anya and Lincoln aren't even batting an eye, because "it's just something she does"?! As if that's acceptable? Like that's a good excuse?! And no one's worried?! At all?! Everyone's okay with the fact that she may not be back for months?! And another thing, she sai-"

At that moment the doorbell rang, cutting off Clarke's rant and her friends' amusement.

"I wonder who that could be..." Raven said with a smirk as she and Octavia went to go open the door.

"Don't open that door Reyes, I'm not done yelling!" Clarke yelled.

Raven rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Raven, Octavia. It's nice to see you as always. Is Clarke home?" Lexa greeted as Lincoln and Anya stood behind her rolling their eyes.

Anya pushed Lexa into the apartment. "Yeah, we told you she was here Lex. Now go talk to her."

Lexa turned to Octavia and Raven. "Which room is-"

"End of the hallway. And it's good to see you again too, Lexa." Octavia said with a smile as she engulfed the girl with a tight hug, which Raven soon became a part of. "Scare us like that again, and we're gonna fuck you up." Octavia whispered low enough for only Lexa and Raven to here.

"And fair warning, she's pissed at you so...good luck with that." Raven added with a smirk.

Lexa nodded, took a deep breath, and headed towards the room. She had been yearning to see Clarke, but at this moment she was very hesitant. She knew the blonde would be mad at her, she had every right to be. She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. She knocked but got no answer. She knocked a little harder again. No response. She took another deep breath before putting her hand on the knob and turning it. When she opened the door she stopped short at what she saw. Clarke was sitting in some jean shorts and a t-shirt that was covered in paint. Her hair was up in a bun and the blonde was muttering to herself angrily.

_She is absolutely beautiful. God I could come home to her every day._

"Ya know you guys, when you knock on someone's door and they don't answer, that usually means they don't want to be bothered. And who was at the door?" Clarke asked, her back towards the door.

"Clarke."

Clarke froze. She didn't need to turn to see who it was. She knew the voice perfectly. That's the voice that had been playing over and over in the back of her head for the past month. That voice belonged to a person that she was highly upset with right now. But that voice was also made her feel relieved. Clarke shook her head and continued mixing paint colors.

"You left."

Lexa let out a defeated sigh and took a seat on the floor. "I did."

"For a month. You left." Clarke states again, turning around to look at Lexa.

"Yes. I did."

Anger rises in Clarke again and she gets up to pace.

"So let me get this straight. You left. For a month. Because apparently it's just something you do. And you didn't call anyone. You didn't send a text or a letter or an email or anything. You didn't think about anyone else's feelings or how this would affect them, you just left!" Clarke yells.

"I know you're angry and-"

Clarke stopped pacing and pointed her finger towards Lexa. "No. No! You don't get to come in here and tell me how I feel. You don't get to do that."

Lexa lifted her hands in surrender. "Okay. You're right, I apologize. How about you tell me how you feel then?"

"How I feel? You want to know how I feel? Great, let's talk about how I feel. I like you Lexa. Fuck, I like you so much, which is insane because I haven't even known you for that long, but it is what it is. In my mind, I thought that maybe there was a possibility that you could like me too, but I was never sure. Because I know you don't do feelings, you told me that. You don't do relationships. But then, THEN you tell me that I'm the exception. You look me in my fucking face and tell me that you want to be close to me. But THEN, THEN YOU LEAVE! Right afterwards, without a second thought. Without a 'goodbye' or an 'I'll be back'. How am I supposed to feel? I felt lied to. And betrayed. I felt like I was the reason that you left. Like you realized that you had made a mistake. But I was also worried. Because I didn't know where you were and there was no way of finding out where you went. You left."

Clarke finishes weakly as she slides down the wall and sits with her knees pulled to her chest.

Lexa closed her eyes and felt her heart ache. She didn't think her leaving would affect Clarke like this. She got up and went to sit in front of the blonde.

"Yes I left. I had to. I needed to think. To reevaluate. But you're right Clarke, I left because of you."

Clarke looked up, hurt written all over her face.

"I left because I realized how much I liked you and I wasn't ready. I'm emotionally damaged, Clarke. After my last relationship, I just wasn't myself anymore. I didn't know how to be. She took all I had and I didn't know how to get it back. You know, being successful doesn't equal happiness. I think that's a common misconception. Materialistic things can only give a person a certain amount of happiness, but things cannot make you feel loved. Money cannot make you feel fulfilled. Success cannot make you forget the pain that you feel when you lay down at night. I have money and I am successful, but I am not fulfilled and I do not live painlessly. And I was used to that. It had become a habit to feel empty. But then you came along and something in me flickered. Clarke, before you, I was only afraid of one thing and one thing only, and that's losing my family and not being about to protect the people I care about. But now? I am afraid of you too, Clarke."

Lexa closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I am afraid of what you make me feel. You give me hope that maybe I can fall in love again. You make me think that maybe love is not weakness. You make me feel less pain and more fulfillment. So I had to leave. I had to think about what I wanted. I needed to clear my head and figure out the next step, because I want to be with you, but I had to fix myself emotionally first. I had to make myself be okay with feeling things for you. You are...very overwhelming to me. I've met many people and have been many places, but never have I ever encountered someone or something like you before. You make me feel alive. So here I am. Ready to face my fears. I'm here to give you all of me, knowing that there's a chance that this could hurt me like never before. But I'm willing to give you everything if you want it. I'm letting down my walls to let you in. And this is me promising not to run away again. This is me coming undone in front of you."

Clarke was speechless. She had never imagined the brunette in front of her looking so anxious. So vulnerable. So open. Yet there she was, pouring her heart out and finally letting Clarke in.

"I understand." Clarke said, anger forgotten.

Lexa looked up. "You do?"

Clarke nodded. "There's this quote that I read when I was about ten years old and it said, 'My love is something valuable to me, which I ought not throw away without reflection.'"

Lexa tilted her head. "Freud said that, right?"

Clarke hummed. "Yeah. And it was something that I always kind of understood, but I don't think I've fully understood it until now. You're thoughtful and cautious and strategic. You don't jump into things without thinking about them and weighing all of the options. In this case, you wanted to make sure you could give me your all. You didn't want anything to hold you back. You wanted to make sure that if you were going to give me the most valuable part of yourself, that you could do it with no regrets and no hesitations. I get it. Just promise me one thing..."

"Anything."

"I dont expect for you not to want to go away again. We all need time alone sometimes and I respect that and have nothing against it. But promise me that next time you'll call or text or something. Promise me you'll let me know that you're okay."

Lexa nodded. "I can do that. And look Clarke, I hope you understand that I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or make you feel as if you weren't important. I honestly just didn't think that my leaving would really affect you this much."

Clarke shook her head. "W-why would you think that Lexa?"

Lexa shrugged. "I guess I'm used to people really caring about me other than my family."

"Well, now you have three other people in your life that really do care about you."

There was a long silence, both of them deep in thought, before Lexa finally spoke again.

"Clarke, I really, genuinely, undoubtedly want to kiss you right now."

At that, Clarke's head snapped up. The look of surprise wasn't missed by Lexa. She pulled Clarke up by her hands and just held them.

"And I've been wanting to kiss you since that time we were at my place, sitting on my bed in front of your painting. I've been resisting the urge since then, but right now the urge is extremely strong. But I'm not going to kiss you unless you want me to."

Lexa stares Clarke deep in the eyes, waiting for an answer.

Clarke's legs are weak and her throat is dry and she's not really sure if any of this is actually happening right now, but she nods anyway, because God she wants this to happen.

Seeing the nod, Lexa pulls Clarke closer and leans in for what she knows will be the best first kiss of her life. Clarke's lips are soft and smooth and Lexa can smell the strawberry chapstick that Clarke has put on earlier that day.

"Oh thank heavens! It's about time this shit happened. Guys get in here!"

Both Lexa and Clarke reluctantly pull away from the kiss with annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Raven, thank you for joining us. You're not interrupting anything at all." Clarke said as she buried her face in Lexa's shoulder.

"You know what's funny, Clarke? Just a few minutes ago, you were in here screaming at the top of your lungs about how you quote, "don't love these hoes" and yet we come in here to find that you are, in fact, getting you some good Lexa loving." Octavia says with a smirk.

"Yeah, so what is the truth Clarke? Do you love these hoes or not?" Anya asks with a smug grin.

"First off, I would like to make it abundantly clear that I am not nor have I ever been a "hoe". Secondly, it would be nice if you all removed yourselves so that Clarke and I could continue conversing. Thank you." Lexa says with a hint of annoyance.

"Oh "conversing" is that what they call it now? Hey Tavia, you wanna go converse in your room?" Lincoln says as they head out of the door, gaining a laugh from the others.

Clarke chuckled and shook her head. "I bet you missed them huh?"

Lexa grinned. "I did actually." Lexa looked around the room and frowned. "So, you've been pretty busy the past few weeks I see."

Clarke looked around at what Lexa was referring to. The paintings. "Oh yeah...I uh.."

Lexa walked over to the painting that Clarke had been working on when she walked in. It was a painting of a woman she had never seen before, but the woman looked oddly familiar. There were a mixture of emotions on the woman's face: anger, disappointment, and disgust.

"Who is this?" Lexa asked.

Clarke scoffed. "My mom."

Lexa raised an eyebrow, making eye contact with Clarke. "And you painted her like this because?"

Clarke rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Because that's my mom, Lexa. That's the way she looks."

"I highly doubt she looks this...angry."

Clarke shrugged, sitting back against the wall. "Yeah well that's how I see her. Anyway, so where did you go?" Clarke asked, swiftly trying to change the subject, which didn't go unnoticed by Lexa.

"I went to Florida. Destin to be specific." Lexa answered, joining Clarke on the floor once again.

"Hmm. And how was that?"

"It was good. Got myself a room and spent most of my time at the beach. I went to the outlet mall once though."

"Sounds relaxing. You get me anything?" Clarke joked, nudging Lexa playfully.

Lexa hopped up, pulling Clarke with her. "Actually, yes I did! I got everyone something." Lexa said, excitedly leading Clarke to the living room.

As they walked into the living room, they saw both couples heavily engrossed in make out sessions. Raven was straddling Anya on the couch and Octavia was laying in the middle of the floor under Lincoln, who was nibbling her neck and her hands were slowly raising up his shirt.

"Eeeewwww." Clarke said, with a scrunched up face.

"I feel like I'm watching animals mate for the first time." Lexa commented as she watched Anya and Raven bite at each other.

"Fuck off" Octavia mumbled as she pulled Lincoln in, deepening their kiss.

Anya hummed in agreement.

Clarke shrugged and turned towards Lexa. "Welp, I guess they don't want their presents, so you can give them to me."

Before Lexa could respond, Octavia had pushed Lincoln off of her and Raven was already up and looking around wildly.

"What?! Presents?! What?! When?! Where?! How?! What?! Where?! Presents?!" Raven squealed.

Octavia pulled Lexa by her shirt until they were nose to nose, looking her dead in the eyes. "Where. Are. They?"

Lexa's eyes went wide and she turned her head towards Clarke, who merely shrugged. "We really like presents." She said, prying Octavia's hands from Lexa's shirt.

Lexa smoothed her shirt out and cleared her throat. "Well at least I know how to get you guys' attention now."

"Cut the crap, Woods. Where's the goods?" Raven snarked.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "They're in the trunk of my car. My ke-"

Before she could finish, Raven, Clarke, and Octavia sprinted out of the apartment, making their way to Lexa's car.

"They didn't even take the keys." Lexa said with a frown.

Anya chuckled as she looked out of the window. "Looks like they don't need them."

Lincoln and Lexa joined Anya at the window, zeroing in on the three girls that were huddled around the driver's side of the car. Raven was bent down near the keyhole and the other two were hovering over her, rather impatiently.

"Is she-"

"Breaking into your car? Yeah." Lincoln grinned, just as Raven finished picking the lock and opened the car door.

"Damn I'm gonna marry that girl." Anya mumbled.

Lexa and Lincoln's heads turned quickly, their jaws dropping in shock.

Anya quickly held her hand up, not even bothering to acknowledge their shocked faces. "I didn't say that. Ignore that. You didn't hear anything."

"But y-you just... you-"

Anya turned to glare at the two. "You. Didn't. Hear. Anything."

Lincoln and Lexa simply smirked, turning their attention back to the window, just in time to see the girls closing the trunk and running back up towards the apartment with gift bags and boxes.

"Okay Woods," Octavia said, rushing into the apartment. "We decided to respect you enough to let you give us our gifts properly, so come let's go. Chop chop!"

"Yeah, chop chop! Pass em out!" Raven exclaimed as the girls sat the bags on the kitchen table.

Lexa rolled her eyes as she headed over to the table. She picked up a small purple gift bag and handed it to Raven. Everyone watched as the Latina rushed to empty the bag.

"Oh my gravy!"

"What?! No fair!"

"Wait, what is it? Hold it up!"

"It's the newest Michael Kors watch!" Raven exclaimed, thrusting it in Octavia's face.

"The electronic one?! No fair! I want one!" Octavia pouted as she went to grab it.

"No way, this is mine!" Raven yelled as she slipped out of Octavia's reach. "Dude, I'm totally gonna tear this thing apart and analyze the hell out of it!"

Lexa picked up another small gift bag and tossed it to Raven. "I figured you'd say that, so I got you this one for you to actually wear."

Raven engulfed Lexa in a quick hug and wiped away a fake tear. "You're alright, Woods. You're alright. No matter what they say, you're good in my book."

Octavia shoved Raven out of the way. "Yeah yeah, she's amazing. Me next." She said, sticking her hand out.

Lexa handed her two long wooden boxes, along with a big yellow envelope.

Octavia opened the box on top and pulled out two perfectly crafted bamboo sticks, with her name engraved on each end.

"Those are some pretty long dildos. Lincoln not serving you the hefty meat stick enough?" Raven joked, receiving a fist bump of approval from Clarke and a groan from everyone else.

"They're bamboo sticks, you ass." Octavia replied, as she opened up the other box, which contained a shiny new samurai sword.

"Holy balls!"

"Sweet Jesus, Lexa you got that girl a sword? She cut her finger the other week when she was cutting an apple!" Clarke said, looking bewildered.

"I'm surprised you even know what an apple is, Clarke. Seeing as how you stray away from anything remotely healthy." Octavia countered as she looked over the sword carefully.

"I've had a salad before. I know what things are. I know fruits." Clarke stated defensively.

Raven put her hand on Clarke's shoulder and squeezed. "Stop while you're ahead, Clarke. Stop while you're ahead."

"Open the envelope already. I want my gift!" Anya complained.

Octavia picked up the envelope and pulled out a few sheets of paper, causing Octavia to gasp. "No way. No way. Really?! Wait, are you serious though?!"

Lexa and Anya nodded, while Lincoln just chuckled.

"What is it?"

"Let me see!"

Raven and Clarke peered over Octavia's shoulder.

"WHAT?! A trainer?!"

"You gave her a job?!"

Lexa shrugged. "Well, we were talking about needing another trainer at the gym, and Lincoln mentioned how Octavia said she was interested so…yeah. I mean, she's already been taking classes and she has a passion for it so we figured it would work."

Octavia squealed and ran to jump on Lincoln.

Lexa cleared her throat and crossed her arms. "Not that I care or anything, but it was _my_ idea."

Octavia rolled her eyes playfully as she got up to give Lexa a hug. "Everybody wants attention. Well thank you Lexa. I agree with Raven. No matter what they say, you're the best."

Lexa frowned. "Who are 'they'? What are they saying? Who has been saying things about me?"

Anya hopped up and pushed Octavia and Lexa out of the way. "I'm the 'they', bitch. Now where's my gift?" She said, looking at the two bags and box on the table.

Lexa sat down on the couch and pointed. "The blue bag is your and the gray bag is Linc's."

Anya chunked the bag to Lincoln. Everyone watched as they pulled out two identical white shirts and read the piece of paper that it came with.

There was a moment of silence before either of them reacted.

"You bitch."

"You must be out of your damn mind if you think I-"

"Ah ah ah, my dear loved ones. I distinctly remember the two of you signing a piece of paper that said, and I quote, "Because I lost a bet to Alexandria Woods, the consequences of said lost are now in her hands. She may cash it in at any time in our lives." Well, here we are."

Clarke picked up Anya's shirt and frowned. In big, bold, black letters it said: **ASK ME ABOUT MY SHIRT**.

"I don't get it."

Raven snatched the piece of paper out of Anya's hand and read it aloud.

"You must wear this shirt whenever I say so. The time and place is not up for discussion. When people ask you about this shirt, you must recite 'The Pledge'. The only way you can get rid of the shirt, is if you challenge me in another bet and win. Good luck, suckers."

"What's the pledge?" Octavia asked, looking at Lincoln.

"Lexa, this is ridiculous!" Anya huffed.

Lexa smiled sweetly. "I believe they asked you about the shirt."

"No, they asked us about the pledge." Lincoln noted.

Clarke smirked. "Well…I'm asking about the shirt."

Lexa smirked and winked at Clarke.

Anya and Lincoln both moved to the center of the room with scowls on their faces, as Raven, Octavia, and Clarke joined Lexa on the couch.

"This is gonna be good." Lexa whispered.

"Lexa, do we have to? This is embarrassing." Anya whined.

"Are you begging?" Lexa questioned in amusement.

"I don't beg." Anya snarled.

"Well then let's move along. Go ahead."

Both Anya and Lincoln got down on one knee and their right fist over their chest. They each rolled their eyes before they started speaking in unison.

"I swear fealty to Lexa kom Trikru. Heda, my commander, the commander of the 12 clans. The great and the powerful. For she is everything I wish to be and more. I swear to protect her and give her my love and devotion, for I will never come across anyone as magnificent as she."

Lexa stood and clapped, causing the others to join.

"Yeah guys, good job. That was amazing." Lexa said, poorly holding back a laugh.

Raven whooped and cheered as Clarke and Octavia whistled.

Lincoln rolled his eyes and Anya flicked them off. "All of you are asses."

"I second that." Lincoln said, as he glared at them.

They all sat down again, and Lexa smiled innocently. "See, that wasn't so bad was it? I can't for you guys to wear it in public. I'm sure that will be fabulous."

Anya and Lincoln glared at her.

"Clarke, you better get your little girlfriend before I do." Anya growled.

"Alright alright, while I would love to see you two go at it, I still haven't opened my gift." Clarke said, looking at Lexa.

Lexa rolled her eyes playfully and got up to get the last gift on the table. "Fine fine. I'll lay off. For now."

"Is anyone else gonna mention the fact that neither one of them denied the girlfriend thing?" Raven whispered loudly.

"You know, I still have the receipt to those watches, Raven. I could always return them." Lexa said as she handed the box to Clarke.

"What? Why would you do that? I don't even know what a girlfriend is. I've never even had one before. I just meant friends who are also girls, ya know? Classic gal pals. Besties with no testies. No need to return anything." Raven replied with an innocent smile.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Clarke opened the box and was met with different colors of red, blue, orange, purple, yellow, and gray paints. Clarke instantly knew that it wasn't the cheap stuff. This was the expensive stuff that she rewarded herself with every now and then.

"So, do you remember when you asked me what my favorite color was?" Clarke nodded. "Well, all of these colors are in there and I um…I guess I wanted to share them with you. It's something that gives me peace, and I wanted to share it with you." Lexa picked up the stack of notecards that were also in the box. "I didn't count these, but I know there are over a hundred of them. When I left I decided to make a pros and cons list about being you. These are the pros."

Clarke looked at the huge stack of cards in Lexa's hand. If those are the pros then…

"Where are the cons?" Clarke whispered, afraid to see how big that stack was.

Lexa got up and pulled her wallet out of her back pocket. She opened it and took out a blue notecard and handed it to Clarke.

Clarke opened it slowly and smiled when she read it.

_**There aren't any.** _

Clarke looked at the note for a while longer, before leaning in and giving Lexa a lingering kiss on the lips.

Lexa grinned as the kiss ended. "Does that mean you approve of my gift?"

Before she could respond, she heard sniffling beside her. She turned to look at Raven and Octavia, who were discreetly wiping their eyes.

"Are you two…crying?"

"What? NO! It's just dusty in here." Raven said quickly.

"Yeah, I've got something in my eye." Octavia offered.

Clarke bit back a laugh and turned back to Lexa. "I love it." She said, leaning in to give Lexa another kiss.

"Alright alright! Cut out the mush fest. This is making me feel like an inadequate girlfriend and I won't stand for it." Anya huffed as she separated the two.

"Yeah, now I feel like I need to go buy Tavia some roses or something." Lincoln added.

Octavia shrugged. "I mean it wouldn't hurt." She then laughed as she saw the look of shock that crossed her boyfriend's face. "I'm just kidding babe. You're the best boyfriend anyone could ask for."

Anya cleared her throat and looked at Raven. "Well?"

Raven shook her head. "I mean, I'd say you were a good girlfriend, but last week you made me drink that gross protein smoothie thing. I just don't think a good girlfriend would do that. But maybe I'd be willing to change my mind if you made me some of that really good stir-fry again."

"Yummy! I could go for some stir-fry." Octavia said.

Clarke nodded. "Yep, sounds like a good dinner to me."

Anya playfully rolled her eyes and bit back a smile. "Fine, I'll cook dinner. But you two are helping." She said, pointing at Lincoln and Lexa.

Everyone got up and started putting their gifts and things away. Lexa, Anya, and Lincoln headed to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner, leaving the other girls behind.

"It was so nice for Lexa to get gifts for everyone." Raven said as she and the other two girls dropped down on the couch.

Clarke nodded. "Yeah, it was super sweet. She's super sweet."

Octavia smirked. "So…are the two of you a thing now?"

Clarke shrugged. "I'm not sure. We talked for a while when she got here and cleared a lot of things up. I think we're just going to take it slow."

Raven nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Clarke took a deep breath and sighed. "So, I have something I need to tell you guys. Um, I've been going to therapy."

"We know." Raven and Octavia said simultaneously.

Clarke looked at both of them, her eyes wide. "Wh-what? How?"

"Remember when we borrowed your laptop a few weeks ago to watch a movie? Well, you left the email for the next appointment open." Raven said.

Clarke nodded slowly, recalling when she let Raven borrow her laptop that day. "Oh…yeah. Well, why didn't you guys say anything?"

Octavia sighed and threw her arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Clarke, we weren't gonna force you to tell us. We knew that when the time was right, you would let us know."

"Yeah, I know we can be pushy and stuff but we also know when to give you your space, and both of us agreed that it would be best to just step back and let you come to us when you were ready." Raven added.

Clarke smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys before. I just…didn't want to get your hopes up and then the therapy thing not work out."

"Clarke, we've got your back no matter what. Okay? We'll support you until the very end and further. If the therapy thing doesn't work out, then we'll be right there with you for the next step." Raven replied.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Octavia said, high-fiving Raven. "So, how is therapy going? Do you like it?"

Clarke instantly perked up. "Oh man, you guys I love it. All we do is sit and talk. I get to complain and she just listens. Plus, she's been really helping me sort my emotions. You know how I've been painting a lot more? All her idea."

Octavia hummed. "I wondered what that was about. You've been in the zone lately. And also very moody."

"Which isn't a problem," Raven quickly added. "It's just something that we've noticed."

Clarke chuckled. "Yeah yeah, I know I've been pretty moody. Especially earlier. I think Lexa leaving just really…added on extra emotions that I already had."

Octavia nodded in understanding. "I can see that. But at least the two of you are okay now."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before Clarke looked at the clock.

"How long do you think they'll be at the store?"

Raven shrugged. "Eh, I don't know. We've probably go about 20 minutes until they get back. What do you guys wanna do?"

"I have an idea!" Octavia said excitedly. "Clarke, can you show us the art you've been working on?"

"Oooohh good idea!" Raven said with a grin.

"Eh, do you guys really want to see it? We don't have to. We can just watch tv or something." Clarke mumbled.

Octavia rolled her eyes and pulled Clarke off of the couch. "Oh come on, Clarke. You know we love anything you paint."

"Yeah! We're interested in seeing what our girl has been working on. So come on. Lead the way." Raven said, nudging Clarke.

Clarke rolled her eyes but smiled, as she headed down the hallway. It had been a long day, but she was glad it was turning out to be a good one. She opened the door and watched as her two best friends excitedly started looking at all of her art work and commenting on it. She had told Indra that art made her feel calm and safe and unjudged, but truth be told, her friends were the real reason that she felt free. They gave her the opportunity to be herself. They give and ask for nothing in return. They were her family. Her reason to do better. They lifted her up without being asked to. She loved art, but it would always come second to the goofballs that stood in front of her.

* * *

 

**The Next Day**

"Someone is in a very good mood." Indra commented.

Clarke smiled widely and giggled. "Oh, you can tell? Believe it or not I was trying to play it low key."

"So I take it that Lucy came back?" Indra questioned.

Clarke nodded excitingly. She began telling Indra exactly what had happened the night before, blushing when she brought up the kiss. Indra just simply took notes.

"So, you're no longer angry at her?"

Clarke shook her head. "To be perfectly honest, I don't think I was ever actually angry. I was just hurt and confused, which then led to anger. I wrote the letters like you told me to, but all of them were basically the same. Just asking why she left, wondering if she was okay, telling her how I felt. When I'm confused and hurt, it tends to result in anger."

"This is going to seem like a random subject change, but go with me for a second. Why exactly are you angry with your mother?"

Clarke sighed. "I dropped out of medical school about a year ago. It just…wasn't making me happy. I liked doing it, and it was a secure profession because the world will always need doctors, but it just didn't make me feel anything. I was always constantly stressed and worry and I barely got any sleep and it just sucked. I felt like a robot. The only time I felt alive was when I did my art on the side. Well, when I told them I wanted to be a full time artist, my mom was not pleased…at all. She had always wanted me to follow in her footsteps and become a surgeon. My dad, however, immediately got on board with me. It was no secret that he always wanted me to be an artist. He supported that dream from the very beginning. So after that, the relationship between my mom and I was only held together by my dad."

"And it completely fell apart after he died." Indra voiced.

Clarke wiped her as a few tears fell but continued on. "Yeah. I mean, I tried to make it work, but she just kept pushing for me to go back to medical school. Like she didn't get why I quit. It's as if she didn't care about what I wanted or my well-being. As if all she cared about was how the family name was ruined because I wasn't a great scientist like my dad or a doctor like her. It got to the point that even being around her just made me feel useless and not good enough. I mean, parents are supposed to believe in their kids and support them, right? She should be proud of me and want to see the things that are important to me, but instead she just ignored them. She ignored my wants and my needs and it just makes me feel…"

"Confused and hurt."

Clarke nodded slowly. "Confused and hurt."


	10. When She Finally Asks You On A Date

Lexa came home to find Raven sitting on the floor wrapped in blankets, watching Bob's Burgers in the living room. She had moved the coffee table out of the way in order to lay down a lot of blankets and pillows.

"Uh…Hi." Lexa said, as she closed the door slowly. "I'm guessing Anya let you in?"

Raven shook her head still looking at the television. "Nah, I gots a key."

Lexa raised her eyebrows in shock. "She gave you a key? Already?"

Raven smiled and looked at Lexa with a glint in her eye. "You're not the only one that has a special way with the ladies." She said with a wink.

Lexa chuckled and shook her head. "So where is the sprung chicken anyway?" Lexa asked, going through the mail on the entry way table.

"She went to go get food and snacks. We decided to have a movie marathon tonight. We were just waiting on you to get back and for O and Lincoln to get back from the gym."

"What about Clarke?" She questioned, placing the mail back down on the table and turning her attention back to Raven.

"She's in your room." Raven said, smirking and winking at Lexa.

Lexa rolled her eyes at the Latina before she turned and headed to her room. Lexa lightly knocked on her door. "Clarke?"

She knocked again. Getting no answer, she opened the door to see Clarke asleep in her bed. Clarke…was sleeping….in her bed. Lexa smiled when the blonde let out a soft snore. Taking off her shoes, Lexa went to her dresser to look for something to change into. She had gone out earlier that afternoon to talk to get her car tuned up and polished. Usually she would do it herself, but today she just wasn't in the mood to. Finally finding the pair of pants she wanted, she pulled off her black jeans and put on some navy blue joggers.

"Am I dreaming? Or are you seriously changing in front of me right now?"

Lexa looked up to see Clarke peeking at her from under the comforter.

Lexa smirked, taking off her black t-shirt. "Well, technically you were supposed to be asleep so…" Lexa said, turning to search for a shirt.

Clarke sat up and yawned. "I hope you don't mind that I took a nap in your bed. I would have slept in Anya's room but I know her and Raven probably…ya know."

Lexa shuddered. "Unfortunately, yes I do know. But it's cool, Clarke. You can sleep in my bed any time you desire to." Lexa said, throwing a wink over her shoulder.

Clarke rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the grin that took over her face. "Is there a certain reason you haven't put a shirt on yet?"

Lexa shrugged, walking away from the dresser and flopping onto the bed next to Clarke. "I like walking around in joggers and a sports bra. It's very…comfortable." She admitted to the blonde.

Clarke tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Do you have any markers? Like colored markers?"

Lexa blinked at the change in subject. "Uh yeah, right over there on my bookshelf." Lexa watched as Clarke got out of the bed and headed over to the bookshelf. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a pair of galaxy leggings that made her ass look amazing. Her hair was up in a lose bun and Lexa was sure life couldn't get any better than this. She was wrong.

Seconds later Clarke was climbing back in the bed with the pack of sharpie markers in her hand. "Can you roll over on your back for me please?"

Lexa looked at the girl skeptically before doing as asked. Clarke then swung her leg over Lexa's body. "Uh-wha-what are you doing?"

Clarke looked at Lexa and batted her eyelashes innocently. "I just wanted to draw on you. Is that okay?" She asked with a pout.

Lexa nodded, not being able to speak with Clarke straddling her like this. Clarke smiled and ran her nails down Lexa's abs, sending a shiver through the girl. She took the black marker and started delicately drawing on the brunette's stomach.

"So, Anya said you're a Harry Potter fan."

Lexa nodded, still trying to control her breathing. Clarke looked up to see Lexa looking at her with a flustered gaze.

"Don't tell me the great Lexa Woods is already flustered. I would have thought your endurance was a lot stronger than that." Clarke teased.

Lexa rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Well, it's hard not to be flustered when you've got the human form of perfection straddling you."

Clarke tried but failed to hold back a grin. "Quite the charmer, aren't you?"

Lexa hummed. "It really doesn't count as being charming if I'm simply speaking the truth." Lexa pointed out, gaining her confidence back.

Clarke smiled and shook her head. "So what's your house?"

"What do you think my house is?"

Clarke closed the black marker and looked at Lexa for a while before grabbing a red marker and continuing her drawing. "I see every house in you. You're brave and courageous. Loyal and fair. Intelligent and wise. Ambitious and cunning." Clarke shrugged and looked at the brunette. "I have no idea what your house is."

Lexa chuckled. "Yeah, I don't know either."

Clarke laughed and shoved Lexa's shoulders. "What do you mean you don't know?! You're supposed to know!"

Lexa laughed at Clarke's reaction. "I don't know! I love every single one of the houses and I could honestly see myself in all of them. I even took some tests online but I always get equal scores between each house."

Clarke nodded. "Then why don't you just choose one?"

"I don't want to. I like being all of them. I don't want to box myself into one house."

Clarke hummed. "Betcha can't guess what my house is."

Lexa scoffed. "Slytherin."

Clarke gasped in shock as she looked at the girl. "How did you know?! Everyone usually always guesses Gryffindor!"

Lexa laughed again, shaking her head. "I know a Slytherin when I see one."

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "Is me being Slytherin a problem for you?"

Lexa raised her hands in surrender. "No ma'am, not at all. I would love to Slyther-in." Lexa said with a smirk.

Clarke threw her head back in laughter. "Wh-did-Lexa why?!" Clarke asked through her uncontrollable laughter.

"It was a good pickup line!" Lexa defended, soon joining in with the laughter.

"Wow that was really bad." Clarke said, catching her breath. Clarke shook her head and continued her drawing. "Like really bad." She teased.

Lexa grinned. "Okay what about this one? Do you have a mirror in your pocket? Cause I can see myself in your pants."

Clarke shook her head, trying her best to hold in her laugh. "Try again."

"Okay, what about this one? Right now, in your galaxy tights, black t-shirt, messy bun, and no make-up, you are the most gorgeous person I've ever seen before and I would be honored if you would let me take you out on a date tomorrow night."

Clarke looked at Lexa with a grin so big it looked like it hurt. She nodded, leaning down pressing her lips to Lexa's. Things had changed between them since Lexa had come back a few weeks ago. After their long talk and their first kiss, they were a lot more comfortable and relaxed around each other. Their flirting had increased a lot and they had shared a kiss on the cheek or a peck on the lips, here and there, but nothing major. They had agreed to take it slow. This time though, the kiss lasted a lot longer than it usually did, though neither one of them minded. The kiss intensified as Clarke started trailing her hands up and down Lexa's stomach. Lexa grabbed Clarke's waist and before she knew it, Clarke was on her back and Lexa was on top of her, their kiss never breaking. Clarke let out a moan as Lexa started grinding her body against hers. Clarke wrapped her legs around Lexa's waist, pulling the girl in closer. Lexa groaned as she reluctantly pulled away from the blonde, causing Clarke to whine.

"I'm sorry, as much as I really, and I mean _really_ want to do this with you, I at least want to take you out a couple of times first, ya know?"

Clarke closed her eyes. "Damn you and your gentlemen-like ways."

Lexa chuckled. "You love it."

Clarke huffed, but smiled anyway. 'I mean….yeah. Yeah I really do." Clarke cleared her throat. "Lex, you gotta get off of me if you want me to think straight. No pun intended."

Lexa chuckled and pecked Clarke on the lips before she got up off of the bed. "Does that mean I have to put a shirt on too?"

Clarke bit her lip as her eyes racked up and down Lexa's body. She groaned and flopped back on the bed. "Ugh, yes. Please do."

Lexa leaned forward and pecked Clarke on the lips again. She then went into her closet and started looking for a shirt, but stopped and gasped when she saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her stomach was covered in sunflowers and in the background there were several figures attempting to catch a balloon that was floating away into the sunset. In the far background there was a Ferris wheel and several roller coasters.

Hearing the gasp, Clarke sat up quickly. "What? What's wrong?"

Lexa walked out of the closet, her face struck with awe. "Y-you drew this…with freaking sharpies."

Clarke nodded with a smile. "You like it?"

Lexa walked up to the bed and pulled the girl up for a soft kiss. "I love it. What made you draw this?"

"You remember when we were on the plane and I told you I had a happy memory? Well, I told you I would paint it, but I decided to draw it on you and share it with you now." Clarke sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling Lexa to stand in front of her so she was eye-level with the drawing. "It was a Saturday in July, today's date to be exact. I was seven and my Dad took me and my friends to the fair that day. It was so fun, Lex. Like…I don't think I'll ever have a day as fun, wholesome, and pure as that one was. This moment right here..." Clarke chuckled, remembering the exact moment. "We were taking a picture by the sunflowers when Wells accidentally let go of his balloon, which led to all of us chasing down the balloon."

Lexa smiled. "Did you ever catch it?"

Clarke shook her head. "Nah. Which then led to Wells crying, and us going to get him a brand new balloon and all of us ice cream."

Lexa grinned as she looked down at the blonde. "That sounds like an awesome day."

"It was."

Lexa and Clarke turned to see Octavia and Raven leaning against the doorway watching them with smiles.

"Literally one of my favorite memories." Raven commented with a smile. "And not to interrupt your moment or anything, but everyone's here and we're ready to start the movies."

"And Woods put a shirt on. I'd like it if Griff paid attention to the movies instead of your body." Octavia said with a smirk as the two girls turned to leave.

Clarke rolled her eyes as she got up and went to Lexa's dresser. She pulled out a plain white t-shirt and threw it at the brunette. "Here, cover up before I keep us from leaving this room."

Lexa laughed as she pulled the shirt over her head. "Better?"

Clarke shook her head. "No. Somehow you look hotter." Clarke rolled her eyes playfully. "Come on, let's get out there before they send in a search party." She joked, pulling Lexa towards the door.

Lexa pulled Clarke's hand causing the girl to stop and turn to her. "Hey, I really want to thank you for sharing that with me." She said, placing a hand on her stomach. "I never want to wash it off." She said with a dopey grin.

Clarke giggled and leaned forward to kiss Lexa's cheek. "I'll make sure I paint it just for you to have."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Lexa groaned at the laughter she heard. She rolled over and put her pillow over her head. _What could possibly be so funny this early in the morning?_ To be honest, it probably wasn't that early, but she was the last one to go to sleep last night, which was at about 3am.

"Shhh. You guys are gonna wake Lexa up." She heard Clarke say.

"Too late." She groaned as she sat up. She rolled her hands down her face and took in her surroundings. Last night they had all decided to just sleep in the living room since it was already covered in blankets and pillows. Lexa slowly got up and headed to the bathroom to shower and get dressed for the day. She came back after about 20 minutes and headed to the table where everyone had just sat down to eat their breakfast.

Clarke looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry we woke you up. Did you sleep okay?"

Lexa gave a thumbs up as she took a fresh piece of bacon off of Anya's plate.

"No, you don't get to eat this." Anya said, taking the piece of bacon back. "Remember, you bought your breakfast the other day."

Lexa's face lit up slightly and she gave another thumbs up as she headed to refrigerator.

"So um, she not a morning person or?" Raven barely whispered.

Lincoln shook his head. "Not necessarily. She just…she has this thing that when she wakes up, she doesn't talk for at least 45 minutes. She says she doesn't like it and it's disrespectful to try to get people to talk right after they've woken up."

"Yeah. She says she needs time to actually wake up and get used to being conscious again." Anya shrugged. "I don't know. The girl's insane." She said, receiving a slap to the back of the head from Lexa who was just then making her way back to the table. She had a box of Froot Loops and a jug of chocolate milk and sat it on the table to start making herself a bowl of cereal.

"Is she…?"

"Is that…?"

"Yeah. She does that. Like I said. Insane." Anya said, shaking her head again.

The group watched as Lexa proceeded to fill her bowl with Froot loops and then poured the chocolate milk on top. They watched in anticipation as Lexa took a bite of the cereal and instantly threw her head back in content.

"You know what," Clarke started, putting down her fork. "I'm not even phased by the weird combination. I'm more surprised that "Healthy Lexi" over here is not only eating a sugary cereal, but also chocolate milk!"

Lexa raised an eyebrow and smirked. "There's a lot you still don't know about me, Clarke." She said in a raspy voice, before taking another bite of cereal.

Clarke shivered at how low and raspy Lexa's voice was but tried to seem unaffected. "I thought you didn't talk right after you woke up?" Clarke challenged.

Lexa finished chewing and shrugged. "I usually don't, but I would be a fool to deny myself the pleasure of having a conversation with you." Lexa responded, causing Clarke to blush and the rest of the table to groan.

"Honestly, you just woke up. How could you be this smooth already?" Octavia groaned in annoyance.

"Lex, honestly could you charm it down a bit? I don't feel like competing for most charming right now." Lincoln whined.

"You'd lose anyway." Anya snarked, receiving a fist bump from Lexa.

Lincoln scoffed and was about to respond when his cell phone started ringing. "It's the gym, I'll be back." He said before leaving the table.

"So…what are the plans for today?" Octavia asked, taking a bite of her bacon.

Raven shrugged. "I have to go to the lab and work on a few algorithms and Anya's gonna come with me cause my genius turns her on, but other than that nothing really."

"Not true." Anya mumbled.

"Yeah, we believe you." Octavia said with a smirk.

Anya rolled her eyes. "What are you doing today? Other than getting on my nerves?"

Octavia blew Anya a playful kiss. "We're going to the gym today and then maybe doing some shopping later."

"What about the two of you?" Raven asked, looking towards Clarke and Lexa.

"Well, I'm spending the day getting ready for a date that I have tonight." Lexa answered holding back a grin.

Anya choked on her drink. "Wait, you have a date tonight? Since when? And with who?! I thought you and Clarke were a thing!"

"Yeah, what the hell?!" Octavia half yelled, while Raven just glared at Lexa.

Lexa took another bite of her cereal. "Since yesterday. And it's with someone I met a while ago." She responded, biting her lip to keep the smile off of her face.

Clarke patted Lexa's shoulder. "Awh, well that's really good! I'm happy for you Lex." She said, playing along.

"You're okay with this Clarke?!" Raven asked, her voice somehow showing her concern and disapproval at the same time.

Clarke shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course, Rae! I can't control who Lexa dates. Plus I have plans of my own today. I've actually got a date tonight too." Clarke responded.

"WHAT?!" The three voices rang out at the same time.

"Oh really? Anyone we know?" Lexa teased, ignoring the shocked looks and glares on the other's faces.

Clarke shrugged again, playing around with the eggs on her plate. "Eh you may know her. She's pretty amazing. Charming and kind. Sweet and generous. Tough yet soft. Fit as fuck and a face that'll make you forget how to breathe." Clarke shrugged again. "You know the type." She said, winking at Lexa.

Lexa grinned. "Yeah I know the type. I'm looking at her right now."

"Alright alright, hold the hell up!"

Clarke and Lexa turned their attention to the rest of the table.

"Yeah?"

"So you two ARE going out with each other tonight Right? Raven asked hopefully.

Clarke and Lexa smiled at each other and nodded.

"Whew, thought I was gonna have to blow you up for a second, Woods." Raven said, shaking her head.

"Why's Raven blowing you up?" Lincoln asked, coming back to the table to sit down.

Lexa chuckled. "She thought I was going on a date with someone other than Clarke. Everything good with the gym?" She asked getting up from the table and heading into the kitchen to wash her cereal bowl out.

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, just Michael calling to ask about the new equipment that came in today. No big deal. But let's back up for a second here. You and Clarke are dating now?"

"Well we haven't actually been on a date yet. It's tonight." Clarke answered, smiling at Lexa.

"About time." Lincoln muttered, only loud enough for Octavia to hear, to which she nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of our date, where are we going tonight?" Clarke asked.

Lexa shook her head as she dried her bowl and put it in the cabinet. "It's a surprise, my lovely. All you need to do is wear something semi-casual and be ready at six o'clock tonight." Lexa stated matter-of-factly. She walked over to Clarke and leaned down, giving the blonde a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you this evening. I can't wait to be in your company again." She whispered.

Clarke watched with a dreamy smile as Lexa picked up her keys and walked out of the door, throwing a goodbye over her shoulder.

"Clarke, why the hell are you looking like that?" Anya asked, with a disgusted look on her face.

"She called me her lovely." Clarke gushed still wearing a dopey grin, causing everyone at the table to roll their eyes and leave the table with mumblings of 'oh my god' and 'what a gay mess'.

* * *

Lexa took a deep breath and knocked three times on the apartment door. On the other side of the door she heard scrambling and chaotic whispers, which she quietly laughed at. She waited a few more seconds before the door flew open.

"Woah."

"Well fuck me."


End file.
